The Lagos division of the Court of Appeal has affirmed that Chief Superintendent of Police, Segun Fabunmi, must serve a 10-year prison term for killing one Ademola Aderintola Daramola during the January 9, 2012 fuel subsidy protests in Lagos. At the time he committed the crime, Mr. Fabunmi was a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) attached to Pen Cinema Police Station in Agege, Lagos State.
On December 14, 2015, Justice Olabisi Akinlade of the Lagos State High Court at Igbosere had sentenced the trigger-happy police to 10 years in prison after finding him guilty of manslaughter in Mr. Daramola’s death during fuel subsidy protests in Lagos. Justice Akinlade had also found Mr. Fabunmi; a dismissed Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), guilty of shooting three other persons, Alimi Abubakar, Egbujor Samuel and Chizoba Odoh, during the protests, inflicting grievous bodily harm.
Mr. Fabunmi, of 12 Oyewole Street, Ogudu, Lagos, joined the police in 1984. After his reckless shooting at protesters, the Lagos State government on May 5, 2013, arraigned him in court on a seven-count charge that included murder, attempted murder and causing grievous bodily harm.
Dissatisfied by the Lagos High Court’s guilty verdict, Mr. Fabunmi’s lawyer, C.J Jiakponna, filed an appeal, urging the Court of Appeal to acquit his client. The Lagos State Government, represented by Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Adeniji Kazeem, urged the court to affirm the decision of the lower court and dismiss the appeal as lacking in merit.
After hearing arguments by counsel on both sides, the Appeal Court ruled that the issue of the identity of the deceased raised by the appellant was not material since it was not in doubt that the appellant shot the deceased. Consequently, the appellate court decided that the appellant’s defense of accidental discharge and self-defense failed since the defenses were mutually exclusive.
Also, the court determined that the appellant, being a seasoned police officer, could have reasoned to use rubber bullets or tear gas on the mob rather than resorting to a lethal weapon, AK 47. The appellate court upheld the finding of the lower court that Mr. Fabunmi’s use of the AK 47 demonstrated that he had the intention to cause grievous bodily harm, adding that the perpetrator’s defense of an accident could not succeed since there was clear evidence that the officer shot at the deceased and other persons.
In dismissing Mr. Fabunmi’s appeal, the Appeal Court held that it lacked merit. The appellate court, therefore, affirmed the decision of the Lagos High Court, upholding a 10-year sentence for Mr. Fabunmi.
ᐧ