Police Corporal Sunkanmi Ogunbiyi, attached to State Criminal Investigation Department of the Ogun State Police Command, went berserk on Thursday morning in Abeokuta.
The rampaging policeman was said to be having matrimonial problems with Oluwatosin, his wife, who is also a police corporal attached to Obantoko police station in Abeokuta, the Ogun capital.
According to neighbours, following a quarrel between the couple, Oluwatosin moved, alongside their two children, to the house of a neighbour, their landlady.Witnesses said Mr. Ogunbiyi arrived the landlady’s residence at about 7:02 a.m. and immediately opened fire on his wife. He also shot and killed the landlady, a 2-year-old toddler, and three others. He did not shoot at his children, who were also in the house.
Three other tenants also sustained gunshot injuries during the incident which occurred at 67, Ifelodun Street, Akingbala area of Obantoko, Abeokuta. The injured were rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Idi-Aba, Abeokuta, where they are now receiving treatment.
Some neighbours told PREMIUM TIMES that the police corporal had in the past warned the landlady not to harbour his wife and children whenever the couple had any misunderstanding.
The Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Ikemefuna Okoye, later visited the scene to assess the situation.
The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, in a statement, confirmed the incident.
He said that Mr. Ogunbiyi and his wife had been having ‘domestic conflicts’ before Thursday’s killings.
“The Ogun State Police Command has deemed it necessary to react to the killing of six persons by a police Corporal Sunkanmi Ogunbiyi attached to the Ogun State Police Command,” the spokesperson said in the statement.
“The unfortunate incident occurred this morning Thursday 27th March, 2014 at 0758hrs when the said corporal, who had been having domestic conflicts with his wife, shot and killed six persons, with his rifle, including his wife, Woman Corporal Oluwatosin Faremi, the landlady in the house, a two-year-old baby girl and two males and one female, while another three persons sustained injuries and receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Centre, Idi Aba, Abeokuta. The said corporal, having killed these persons, shot himself dead immediately.
“The Commissioner of Police Ogun State, CP Ikemefuna Okoye has described the incident as unfortunate; and has visited the scene with other senior police officers in the command to assess the situation and sympathize with the relations of the deceased and members of the Akingbala Ifelodun Estate, Eleweran Area, Abeokuta, where the incident took place,” he added.
Mr. Adejobi said “The Command has therefore commenced thorough forensic investigation into the killing and promised to make sure justice is done in the matter.”
“ The commissioner of police however appeals to the general public to perceive the incident as one of the unfortunate social mishaps and not to judge the police with the incident, as the police is committed to protection of lives and property and will not tolerate any act capable of trampling on fundamental human rights of the citizens of Ogun State.”
So unfortunate. May their souls rest in peace.
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