The Ekiti State Police Command has accused the Department of State Services (DSS) in Ekiti of murdering a policeman attached to the command in cold blood while he was on his legitimate duty.
According to Alberto Adeyemi, the State Police Public Relations Officer, two policemen – Sgt Slyvester Malik and Corp. Mough Tergu – had escorted the former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Dr Femi Thomas, to the DSS command in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday morning.
The two policemen – who were from the Special Protection Unit in Lokoja, Kogi State – were reportedly ordered to submit their weapons by operatives of the DSS but they refused.
A hot argument then ensured, during which Malik was fatally shot, while Tergu landed in hospital, where he is in critical condition.
In a Wednesday statement by the State Police PRO, the command accused the State Director of the DSS, Duke Fubara, of unduly protecting the operative that pulled the trigger, stating that this was even after the state police command had made several requests that the suspect be released to them.
The statement read in part: “In fact, the DSS is shielding the suspect and we are still waiting for them to hand him over to us. The two policemen were fired at and one of them pretended as if he had died and he heard all their conversations.
“Is there any law in the land that says one should be killed for escorting someone to a barrack or command base?
“Looking at it from professional angle, dropping of arms is even unprofessional. The DSS alleged that the victims refused to be disarmed and they had to struggle with them and claimed that one of them was injured in the process. We are waiting for them to produce the injured to confirm their claims.”