The Landlord and Tenants Association of Stonewater Royal Estate, Lagos, has urged the Acting Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, to probe the circumstances in which a man was allegedly killed in the estate.

Through its counsel, Bartholomew Aguegbodo, the estate said an unbiased team of investigators should be empanelled to handle the probe.

The estate said it did not believe the Zone 2 Police Command, Onikan, would be objective enough in unraveling the circumstances of the murder. 

The landlords want the case transferred to the Force Criminal Investigation Department AnnexE, Alagbon, Lagos or to the IGP Monitoring Team.

They are dissatisfied with the activities of men of Section D8 of the Zone 2 Command in their bid to probe the death Mr. Ifeanyi Olebala, who allegedly died on February 22.

According to the landlords and residents, on February 22, at about 9 a.m, there was an attempt to demolish the estate’s security building using a bulldozer following a land dispute.

They said the security men at the gate accosted the bulldozer driver, insisting that the demolition could not be done at night.

The driver was said to have called on two of his colleagues to join him, one of who is deceased.

“At about 8 a.m of the same day, some area boys with two armed mobile policemen came into the estate, rounded up the security men found at the security house after shooting sporadically and sending other residents running for safety.

“The security men were taken to Tradefair Police Division and later transferred to FESTAC Police Division. On February 24, 2021, the matter was transferred to State CIID, Panti Street, Yaba for further investigation,” the lawyer wrote.

The estate said following a petition against the landlords, the case was further transferred to Zone 2, where it was assigned to Section D8.

“They issued invitation letters to landlords in the estate and started calling the chairman with constant threats of arrest.

“At this point, the estate chairman reminded the team that the estate was not aware of any physical confrontation or violence that resulted in death.

“The team, without foundation, concluded that the security men and landlords jointly killed the deceased.”

The estate association said it wrote a petition to the Deputy Inspector General of Police and the Inspector General, calling for a neutral body to conduct a discreet investigation into the killing.

“The Deputy Inspector General of Police (investigation) approved the petition and sent a signal to the AIG Zone 2, Onikan, Lagos for the transfer of the case file to Force CIID, Annex for further investigation but the Zone 2 Command has willfully disregarded the directives to transfer the case.

“The estate association further petitioned the Inspector General Police and approval was given that the matter is transferred to the IGP Monitoring Team, Abuja.

“Officers from Abuja came for the case file but the AIG Zone 2 remained adamant that he was not going to comply with the signal.”

The estate association said its security men who were not on duty on the day of the incident had been in detention since February 23.

“The estate association has maintained that there was no physical violence from the account of the security men and the death of Olebara has nothing to do with the security men or landlords of the estate”.

“However, they have clamoured for an independent team to cause a discreet investigation to unravel the circumstances surrounding the death of Olebara, who they strongly believe has been used as a pun in the battle over the land tussle.

“It must be stated that the alibi raised by the detained suspect has not been investigated by the police at Zone 2 Command Headquarters. They are not interested in unraveling the mystery of Olebara’s death.

“We restate our call to the police authorities and the general public that life is sacred and should not be used as a tool to achieve an end.

“We call on the public to impress it on the Inspector-General of Police that justice is a-three way traffic – justice for the victim, justice for the suspect, and justice for the society at large.

“Let an unbiased team of investigators do a discreet job to unravel who the actual killer(s) of Olebara is or are. The world is watching,” Aguegbodo said.

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