THE Osun State Police Command has released an operative of the State Security Service (SSS) identified as Bamidele, also known as Aji, who is alleged to have killed 21-year-old Temitope Johnson without conducting an investigation.
During an interview with The ICIR, Temitope’s father, Segun Johnson, said Bamidele shot his son on October 6, when operatives of the SSS stormed a house in Owode-Ede.
“When they came to the house, Temitope was sleeping inside the room, they started shooting sporadically and one of them shot my son,” he said.
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He said Temitope’s body was taken into the DSS vehicle, and his family had not seen him since then.
Johnson said he filed a complaint at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Osun State and Bamidele was arrested.
He told The ICIR that on November 26, Bamidele was arrested by the CID and he was invited to Osun State Police headquarters in Osogbo to identify him.
“They called me at the CID that they had arrested Bamidele, I left Ife and went to the Police headquarters in Osogbo to see if they had truly arrested him, I met him there and took his picture,” he said.
Johnson was told that investigation had commenced and the body of his son would soon be found.
But to his surprise, Temitope was released by the Police authorities the same day without proper investigation, and without informing Temitope’s family.
Johnson said he went back to the Police headquarters to find out why Bamidele was released without investigation, but he was told it was an order from above.
“The people I met at the CID told me it was their boss that asked them to release Bamidele and there was nothing they could do,” Johnson said.
When The ICIR contacted the Osun State Police Commissioner Wale Olokode, he said he had invited the officer in charge of the case to report to his office to explain why he released the SSS operative.
“I heard about the case and I have invited the officer in charge to come and explain why he released the accused, I would give you an update on the case,” Olokode said.
As at the time of filing this report, the police is yet to explain why a principal suspect in a murder case is allowed to walk free from justice.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via [email protected], on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94