Family sources who had been speaking with SaharaReporters over the issue alleged that both the leadership of the Ondo State Police Command and the embattled Commissioner for Transport, Nicholas Tofowomo have threatened to deal with them if the issue goes to the press.
The Ondo State Commissioner for Police, Hilda Ibifuro-Harrison, has said the case of twenty-one-year-old Olalekan Olatosin, who was killed two weeks ago as a result of reckless VIO officers who were chasing a driver who refused to pay a bribe, would be decided in court.
Ms. Ibifuro-Harrison disclosed this on Wednesday at the police headquarters on Igbatoro Road in Akure, the State capital, before parading three different youngsters for committing electoral violence during last Saturday’s local government election held in Ondo State.
She said the decision to bring the murder case of the late Olalekan Olatosin to court was not that of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in Ondo State.
"Certainly, the decision is not with the police and I can assure you that," Ms. Ibifuro-Harrison said.
The Police Commissioner had been making frantic efforts to exonerate her officers of any wrongdoing and stylishly downplayed issues relating to the late Olalekan Olatosin's case while reiterating that it would be decided in a court of law.
She also failed to state whether the VIO officials who were arrested after an investigation revealed that they caused the death of the late Olalekan Olatosin were still in the command's custody.
"The laws of Nigeria as they relate to fatal motor accidents do not give police officers the right to compound such a crime.
"I can assure you that the crime will not be compounded and the court will have to hear it and decide if it is deemed fit," she said.
Family sources who had been speaking with SaharaReporters over the issue alleged that both the leadership of the Ondo State Police Command and the embattled Commissioner for Transport, Nicholas Tofowomo have threatened to deal with them if the issue goes to the press.
One of the sources revealed to our correspondent how the Ministry of Transport has been making moves to sweep the case under the rug since it involves government officials from the VIO in Akure.
"The Commissioner for Transport, Nicholas Tofowomo, has been using police officers to harass and threaten us over the murder case of our son who was killed in a fatal motor accident in his prime,” the source stated.
"They have been bribing some journalists in the State to not write the story and they specifically told the father of the boy not to even grant an interview to any press, both in the print and broadcast media, on issues relating to the murder case of our son.
"One of the officers in the Ministry of Transport called my phone line and started threatening me, saying that he read the story on one of the popular online news media sources based abroad. He accused me of giving the reporter the clue to the story, which I did not do.
"They have been pleading and asking us to take money and forget the case but we said we don't need their money because all we want is justice to take its course over the killing of Lekan, which some powerful forces in the State want to sweep under the carpet," the source revealed.
On Wednesday, it was gathered that the lawyer handling the case on behalf of the family, Jimoh Saliu, is being pressed by the government and police to drop the case charge.
Mr. Saliu had already petitioned the office of the National Human Rights Commission (NRHC) and copied the Inspector General of Police over the murder case of the twenty-one-year-old.