Gunmen on Friday attacked the convoy of the popular cleric around the Auchi area of Edo State, killing seven people, including three police officers attached to him, while the clergyman narrowly escaped death.
The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has condemned in strongest terms, the alleged killing of one of the suspected attackers of Apostle Johnson Suleman by the Edo State police command.
Gunmen on Friday attacked the convoy of the popular cleric around the Auchi area of Edo State, killing seven people, including three police officers attached to him, while the clergyman narrowly escaped death.
Apostle Suleman, who is the General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries International, had claimed that the attack was an assassination attempt.
He also disputed a police report that claimed one of the attackers was killed in a shootout with officers.
The Divisional Police Officer, Ayodele Suleiman, in Auchi had claimed that the police had a gun battle with the attackers on Friday and killed one of the members, but Apostle countered the claim, saying that the suspect was arrested and handed over to the police alive at the scene of the attack.
The cleric further questioned why the security personnel killed a suspect who might have revealed who was responsible for the horrific attack that happened to him.
Reacting to the incident, RULAAC described the police action as “extrajudicial killing” and therefore called for a “prompt, impartial and exhaustive probe.”
A statement by its Executive Director, Okechukwu Nwanguma, said, “RULAAC condemns the alleged extrajudicial killing of one of the attackers of Apostle Johnson Suleman, allegedly by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Auchi, CPS Ayodele Suleman after the suspect was arrested alive by members of a vigilante group and handed over to the police.
“Reports have it that seven persons including three policemen and four domestic staff of Apostle Johnson Suleman were killed late Friday near Auchi at the Water Tank Junction along the Warake -Auchi Road on his way to Auchi returning from a foreign mission.
“Information available to RULAAC indicates that the suspect was apprehended by members of a vigilante group who promptly handed him over to the DPO who extrajudicially executed him.
“Killing the suspect is unprofessional and raises questions about motive. The action destroys evidence by denying the opportunity to interrogate and hear from him about other fleeing members of the criminal gang, their probable motive, their likely sponsors, and other vital information surrounding the crime.
“On taking over the suspect from the vigilante group, the police, without any investigation, extrajudicially executed the suspect, denying him the chance - which he is entitled to under the law- to appear in court where his guilt or otherwise would be established following fair trial.
“Could a DPO have unilaterally taken such extrajudicial and reckless action without reference to the Commissioner of Police?
“It would be expected that a DPO, upon receiving a suspect in such a serious crime, would notify his CP. Did the DPO notify his CP? What directives could the DPO have received from the CP that emboldened him to carry out such a heinous, illegal, and scandalous act?
“If it turns out to be the case that the CP Edo ordered the unlawful killing of the arrested suspect, the CP would be liable for giving an unlawful order. But even if the officer who shot the suspect did so convinced that he was obeying superior orders, he will still be held personally liable because obedience to superior orders is no justification or excuse under the Police Act 2020.
“Such an order would be manifestly unlawful. A prompt, impartial and exhaustive investigation by an impartial team outside Edo Police Command is warranted.”