Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
Following the death of a player of Remo Stars Football Club, Tiyamiyu Kazeem, in the hands of operatives of the Zonal Intervention Squad (ZIS), Obada-Oko, Ogun State, the Inspector General of Police, Muhammed Adamu, has disbanded the Squad.
The IG announced the disbandment yesterday through the Deputy Inspector -General of Police in charge of Criminal Investigations Department Force Headquarters, Peter Ogunyonwo, when he accompanied the state governor, Dapo Abiodun, on a condolence visit to the parents of the deceased in Sagamu.
Ogunyonwo said that the ZIS office would be handed over to the Ogun State Police Command. He disclosed that a Police Inspector indicted in the matter has been dismissed, while other officers were under investigation.
The DIG, who noted that the death of Kazeem would prompt the Police to carry out more reforms, maintained that all officers involved in the circumstances that led to the death of the footballer have been arrested.
He said the ZIS operatives were on illegal duty and did not obtain clearance from police formation in Sagamu before they carried out the arrest of the deceased.
Ogunyomwo promised that the police would do everything possible to purge themselves of “trigger-happy elements.” He pledged that full Investigation would be carried out to bring those involved to justice.
Earlier, Governor Abiodun, declared that every instrument of government available would be used to unearth the circumstances of the killing and crisis that engulfed Sagamu as a result of the killing of the ace footballer, Kazeem, since Saturday.
Abiodun, who was also accompanied on the condolence visit by the Commissioner of Police in Ogun State, Kenneth Ebrimson, and the State Director of Department of State Services, Mr. David Tuska, pleaded with the Sagamu residents not to take laws into their hands. He noted that “the future of the state would be secured when people eschew violence and go about their businesses in a lawful manner.”
“We will use every means possible not only to ensure that justice is served, but that it is seen to have been served.
“We’ll work to ensure that this will be the last of such avoidable deaths in the hands of security officers in our state,” he vowed.
Prince Abiodun who attributed the criminal activities in the town to its size, population and being a border town, added that the State government distributed more security logistics to law enforcement agents, while additional police division had been established in the town.
While commiserating with the parents of the deceased for losing a promising star in his prime, the governor assured that he would not die in vain, as government would investigate and get to the root of the matter.
“The incident caused a lot of pain to us and that is why we are here to condole with you. God allowed this incident for a reason.
“I want to assure you that since it happened, we have left no stone unturned. We are closely monitoring the situation,” he noted.