A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kunle Edun, has described the killing of a suspect in Effurun, Delta State, by a policeman as “pure murder,” insisting that those responsible must be prosecuted to ensure justice.
Edun said this during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday.
“We can not take laws into our hands. The IGP has done the right thing, and he has assured us, which we are going to follow because I gave the family that assurance, because in terms of prosecution, we will follow up on this matter.
“There must be prosecution because what was done was clear murder in the presence of all Nigerians,” Edun said.
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His comment follows the recent killing of a 28-year-old man, Mene Ogide, on April 26 in the Effurun area of the state by a police officer, ASP Nuhu Usman.
However, the officer was arrested, queried, and transferred to Force Headquarters in Abuja to face the Force Disciplinary Committee for immediate disciplinary sanction and prosecution.
The SAN further said the punishment for murder is the death penalty.
“It’s a very serious case, and I just don’t know the kind of defense it is going to profile, I just don’t know because he has not denied committing the act,” the lawyer said.
READ ALSO: Delta: Policemen Who Killed Suspect In Viral Video Will Be Tried For Murder — PPRO
He also noted that the police can’t deny the incident because Usman admitted to shooting the young man twice.
Edun alleged that the incident could not have been the first time the policeman carried out such an act.
“Let me go back to the issue of the video recording. If you look at ASP Nuhu Usman, the way he cocked the gun, that couldn’t have been his first time doing such a thing.
“It looked like it was a pattern, and that is very disturbing, and another thing again was why was he in a hurry to kill the young man, he first shot him at the Effurun motor park in the leg after this young man had already been tied up by the park executives,” the SAN said.
Edun, however, commended the Inspector General of Nigeria, Tunji Disu, for his response to the incident.
“Yesterday, the police station where the area command Effurun is also sited would have been brought down by the youths.
“You must have seen the youths going there to throw stones, trying to burn down the police station, but I think by this morning, everywhere is calm now, I want to believe so,” he added.