The senior police officer lynched by commercial motorcycle operators at Ajao Estate on Thursday has been identified as Mr. Kazeem Abonde, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) and the former divisional police officer of Ajangbadi police division.
Adekunle Ajisebutu, the police spokesperson, confirmed this in a statement on Friday.
Mr Ajisebutu said the incident happened during a raid of identified flashpoints in the area and enforcement of the ban on the use of motorcycles in restricted areas in the estate.
The police spokesperson said although the operation was successful, with some suspects arrested, hoodlums laid ambush for the police officers at the entrance of Ajao Estate, and killed Mr Abonde in the process.
Mr. Abonde is reportedly only a few months from retirement.
“The Lagos State Police Command lost one of its finest officers during a raid on criminal hideouts in Ajao Estate, Lagos State yesterday 23rd September, 2021.
“The incident happened when tactical teams of the command comprising men drawn from RRS, Taskforce, Ajao Estate Division and other divisions were carrying out a raid of identified flashpoints and enforcing the ban on the use of motorcycles in restricted areas in the estate and similar places in the state.
“After the successful operations which led to the arrest of some of the suspects, other criminal elements and hoodlums in their large number laid siege to the exit of the Estate and attacked the policemen with guns, cutlasses and other dangerous weapons.
“Unfortunately, during the fatal attack, CSP Kazeem Sumonu Abonde attached to the Operations Department of the Command was brutally killed by the hoodlums,” the police spokesperson said in the statement.
The deceased officer, who was seen lying in the pool of his blood, was reportedly hit on the head with an object.
The police spokesperson added that the DPO of Ajao Estate, Abdullahi Malla, who is also a CSP and other police officers sustained injuries.
Mr Ajisebutu said the corpse of the deceased officer had been deposited at the Yaba Mainland Hospital for autopsy.
Raid of criminal hideouts in the state and enforcement of the ban of motorcycles on selected routes is part of the routine activities of the Lagos police command.
Mr Ajisebutu said this exercise is a “proactive approach aimed at curtailing activities of armed robbers and other criminal elements in the state”, as similar exercises were carried out in the past in other parts of the state which have resulted in a reduction in crimes in the areas.
Reacting to the incident, the Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, condemned the attack on his men and vowed that the hoodlums would be brought to book.
Mr Odumosu has reportedly directed a probe of the incident with a view to identifying the culprits and bringing them to book.
He also added that the incident would not dampen the morale of his men in the discharge of their statutory duties.
