David Imoh: Police Ask Nigerians To Ignore Faceless DSS Officer, Arrest Another Suspect

The Lagos State Police Command has debunked a “cunningly-crafted” write-up by an acclaimed operative of the Department of State Service (DSS), accusing the command of tampering with the outcome of an investigation.

The author had penned his resignation, following the alleged connivance of the police and the DSS to conceal and protect the real culprits connected to the lynching of the sound engineer, David Imoh in Lagos.

Identified as Adio Oluwole Bashir, he said, “I take my exit from the Nigerian Secret Service in defence of my conscience… I can no longer have my hands stained with blood”.

Notable among his claims was the replacement of the 11 suspects his team had cracked down on, majorly from the Northern region, by the police.

He said while investigating the case, he received several threats from strange individuals asking him to back down, but when the culprits were eventually arrested, he was instructed by the DSS to hand over the suspect to the Lagos command.

He said that same day, the command had publicised a different set of six suspects, allegedly paid N100,000 each to admit to the crime.

Conversely, the command debunked the write-up by a “faceless DSS officer”, describing it as “nothing but a cunningly-crafted work of fiction ill-intended by some unpatriotic persons and warmongers to cause disaffection, and possibly ethnic war, amongst Nigerians.”

In a statement signed by the Command’s Spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, the command affirmed that four of the arrested suspects were taken to custody by the Divisional Police Officer of Maroko Division at the active crime scene.

The command said the Division had rescued two other persons under attack at the scene.

“The numerous observers of the arrests, some of whom made videos, can attest to this.

“It is therefore ridiculous, frivolous and laughable that the suspects were allegedly paid a miserly One Hundred Thousand Naira each to admit and take the fall for murder.

“Further investigation by the State Criminal Investigation Department led to the arrest of two other suspects. All six suspects were paraded before the press by the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, CP Abiodun Alabi, FDC on May 20, 2022,” the statement read partly.

The police, however, disclosed that a seventh suspect, Usman Abubakar, 22 (not the mastermind), “who literally poured petrol on the victim, was eventually arrested the next day. This brings the total number of arrested suspects to seven.

“Furthermore, not only has the State Director of DSS in Lagos State confirmed to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police that the alleged officer was unknown to them, he equally confirmed that the DSS neither arrested nor handed over any suspect to the police.

“CP Alabi, therefore, urges Nigerians to disregard the write-up as a mischievous attempt by fifth columnists to cause trouble within the country.”

Recall that the 37-year-old sound engineer was murdered and burnt in Lekki, Lagos by commercial motorcyclists after a rift with the deceased.