The family of Moses Gabriel, a father of three, believes that a policeman attached to Ile-Ogbo Division, Osun State, shot and killed him on Thursday night, but the police command says its officers had no hand in the killing.
Except for a video (viewer’s discretion advised) showing the deceased in a pool of blood, his family has not seen a body. FIJ learnt that Gabriel, a native of Benue State, was in his late 30s when death came for him.
Peter Gabriel, the deceased’s younger brother, told FIJ on Saturday that the police division did not allow them to see his brother’s body.
“The DPO said we should meet the DCO. The DCO later said we should meet the DPO. Later, they said we would not see his body until Monday,” he disclosed.
This Facebook post by Iwoland Hub claims that a policeman, also named Moses, opened fire on the father of three without provocation that night.
“Eyewitnesses, including Mr Azeez, Mr Yakubu Ajanaku, Mr Naheem and Mr Tella, stated that the officer opened fire without any provocation, shooting Mr Gabriel Moses at close range in the eyes resulting in his immediate death,” reads the report attributed to Ta’awunu Human Rights Initiative.
THE FAMILY’S ACCOUNT
The last time Peter saw his elder brother alive was on June 21, five days before he received the call that shattered everything.
He told FIJ that the caller phoned him moments after the incident on Thursday night to inform him that some policemen had raided a party at the Oladunwo area of Ile-Ogbo.
“The person said they suddenly heard gunshots, and everyone was running helter-skelter. Then they heard that the police had killed my elder brother. I was in Ibadan that night and had to rush down to Osun,” he said.
Peter said he did not see his brother’s body when he got to the scene of the incident, but he saw blood and his brother’s footwear.
“I noticed that they shot my brother on the spot where he was seated. I heard the incident happened around 8 pm and that the police went away with his corpse,” Peter said.
“I went to the police station in Ile-Ogbo to find out why they shot at my brother. My brother was at the gathering with his friends, from what I heard, so I wanted to know why he was the one who was targeted. Did he fight with someone? Even if he did, did he kill someone or what? These were the questions I asked that night, but no one provided me with answers.”
Peter said he and another sibling went to the station again on Friday to ask for details on how they could see their brother’s body at the mortuary, but the police denied them access.
“They did not allow us to see his body. When we got there, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) told us to go and meet the Divisional Crime Officer (DCO), who doubles as the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) on the matter,” he explained in Yoruba.
“We did not see the DCO; we were told he had gone on patrol. We went to the mortuary at Iwo General Hospital, where we were told his body was deposited, and called the DCO up to 10 times so he could speak with the mortuary attendants, so they could let us see the body. Not once did he answer the phone.
“When we went back to the station on Saturday, the DPO told us we would not be able to see my brother’s body until Monday. How does that make sense? Why do we have to wait until Monday?
“We don’t have anyone. We are from Benue State, and our culture requires us to bury our people in our hometown. I still saw my brother last Saturday when he came to visit me in Ibadan. He had a wife and three children. The eldest child is only five years old.”
It was gathered that on the day of the incident, the deceased had just left another younger brother’s residence in Ile-Ogbo about 20 minutes before he was killed.
A COMMUNITY RESIDENT’S ACCOUNT
An Ile-Ogbo resident, who asked not to be named, told FIJ that the police had gone to Moses’ area on Thursday in search of a young man named Yakubu Ajanaku, who had a clash with Adeoje Tunji, another resident popularly known as Etije.
“So, I heard that Ajanaku’s allies had destroyed Tunji’s property and killed his dog. Tunji then reported the matter to the police. Officers from Ile-Ogbo went to the area around 6 pm to 7 pm on Thursday,” the resident disclosed.
The source said the police initially had to move around in search of Ajanaku, but they found him eventually, arrested and handcuffed him.
“We heard that as the policemen were about to put the man in their vehicle, some individuals believed to be Moses’ associates started throwing stones at the officers and shot a policeman in the leg. In response, the police opened fire, and a bullet struck Moses Gabriel,” the source said.
He added that members of the group later attacked Tunji at his home and injured him with an axe. He was rushed to the hospital, where he eventually died.
“It’s not as if the police assaulted them first. It was just a defence mechanism,” the resident noted.
Meanwhile, the brother of the deceased also said he gathered that there was indeed a clash in the area, but he said his brother was not involved.
“From what I found out, there was a clash between some people, but my brother was not part of it. He wasn’t the one who killed someone’s dog, so why was he the one shot? Shouldn’t the police have gone after the person directly involved in the clash? That is where we are confused, and we need an explanation and answers,” his brother said.
OSUN POLICE’S ACCOUNT
When FIJ first contacted DSP Abiodun Ojelabi, the spokesperson for the state police command, he said he was not aware of such an incident, but he promised to make some findings and provide feedback.
While providing the feedback hours later, Ojelabi said that the police did not fire a single shot on Thursday, and that the officers did not kill anyone.
The police spokesperson claimed that the Ile-Ogbo police division received a distress call about a fight at about 8:30 pm. On getting to the scene, he said, the policemen found two bodies lying on the floor.
“One was later identified as Moses, and one other guy, whose name is unknown but is popularly known as Etije. It was discovered that Moses had been hacked on his head. He had a cut on his head, but Ejike was still breathing a bit,” DSP Ojelabi said.
“This whole thing started between Etije and another guy, who are land grabbers. They had been fighting over land in the community for a very long time. On that fateful day, there was a clash between the two factions, and unfortunately, Moses and Etije were the ones who were hit,” he added.
“When a proper check was done, it was discovered that one of them was still breathing, and they were rushed to the hospital. Etije was confirmed dead while Moses was rushed to two to three hospitals, but they rejected him until he was taken to UCH Ibadan, where they accepted him. Before they could commence treatment, according to the doctor, he gave up the ghost.
“On that fateful day, the police did not fire a single shot. Everybody left the scene for the police. The police recovered a vehicle from the scene, plus an axe and a dane gun.”
According to the police spokesperson, allowing the family to see the corpses is different from having them released. He said the family can be allowed to see the bodies with police permission, but releasing the corpses will not happen until investigations are concluded.
“One of the deceased is at UCH while the other is at the General Hospital in Iwo. They can go there to see the corpses with the permission of the police. Nobody is stopping them. But about releasing the corpses, investigating has to go further before they can talk about releasing the body to the family.”
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