Lagos State Police Command has dismissed Sgt. Samuel Phillips, who allegedly killed an 18-year-old female admission seeker, Monsurat Ojuade in the Ijeshatedo area of Surulere.
Spokesman of the State Police Command, Adekunle Ajisebutu, who disclosed this in a statement on Friday said Phillips would be arraigned in court.
Ajisebutu made this known in a statement titled, ‘Ijeshatedo Shooting Incident: Sgt Samuel Philipps Dismissed From Service, To Be Arraigned In Court’.
WITHIN NIGERIA had reported that Phillips shot dead the 18-year-old admission seeker, who reportedly scored 236 in the 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations and was awaiting admission when she was killed.
“This is to inform the general public that Sgt Samuel Philipps who was tried for the shooting incident of 11th September, 2021 that led to the death of Monsurat Ojuade has been dismissed from the Nigeria Police Force. He was dismissed after conclusion of his orderly room trial. The suspect will be charged to court today for murder.
“Recall that the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, had promised that the matter would be properly investigated and that justice would be served. This action is, therefore, done in fulfilment of that promise.
“The Commissioner of Police further sympathises with the bereaved family, and reiterates his earlier promise that justice would be done in this case,” the statement read.
According to PUNCH, counsel for the Ojuade Family, Israel Mbaebie, said the Command should make known its findings to the public. The lawyer also frowned at the supposed hasty arraignment of the suspect at Yaba Magistrates’ Court today.
Mbaebie in a statement titled, ‘Re: Update On The Gruesome Murder Of Monsurat Ojuade’ on Thursday, said, “We regret to note that while our clients’ demands have been totally ignored if not snubbed by the police, they have gone ahead to fix the arraignment of the alleged killer cop and only informing us just about 12 hours prior to the said arraignment.
“Our clients frown at this disrespectful and lackadaisical attitude of the police and also wonder how it has been easier for them to organise an orderly room trial of the so-called killer police without making public their finding till date and now, arraignment without making public the full identity of the culprit as earlier demanded by our clients.
“The gruesome and brutal murder of late Monsurat Ojuade can never be swept under the carpet. We must ensure that she and her family get the justice that they deserve and desire. Justice must be served and rightly so.”