Family Cry Out As Police Fail To Release The Corpse Of Killed Inspector

The family of a late police inspector, Felix Adewunmi, has berated the police for the way they are handling the death their son.

According to the family, the police did not properly inform them of Felix’s death except his wife, whom they claimed to have carried  along.

It was learnt that Felix was killed when an ambulance being driven against the traffic collided with an oncoming vehicle.

The ambulance was said to have hit an oncoming SUV, which somersaulted and hit the inspector, who was making a phone call at the back of a police van by the Iponri Police Station in Lagos.

The deceased’s younger brother, Abiodun Adewunmi, told our correspondent that the way the police were handling the matter made the family to suspect that there was more to Felix’s death.

Abiodun stated that his brother was said to have been killed around 1pm, while the police called his wife around 12am of the following day that her husband had an accident and was rushed to a general hospital.

He alleged that nobody from the Iponri Police Station, where Felix was serving and from where he died, had visited his house at Iyana Iyesi, Jabba, Ogun State, to commiserate with the family.

Abiodun stated, “The police called my brother’s wife around 12am that her husband was in hospital and that she should come and see him. They told her that he had an accident, which made him unable to walk.

“It was when the wife got to the police station that they told her that her husband was killed in an accident caused by an ambulance that was being driven against the traffic.

“That was when his wife called to inform us of what the police told her. We at once rushed to the police station together with some landlords. After we had spent some time in the place, they reluctantly came out and told us that Felix was dead.

“They said Felix was at the back of a police van making a call when an ambulance, which was being driven against the traffic, rammed into an oncoming SUV that somersaulted several times and hit him where he was standing in front of the Iponri Police Station.

“What they are telling us is that the matter has been charged to court and that we should produce the inspector’s death certificate. They did not allow us to see his corpse; the only pictures we have are the ones they sent to us when the deceased was being taken to hospital. We don’t know what is happening; they keep dribbling us on what date and time we should come to see them,” he said.

Another annoying thing, according to Abiodun, is that the police asked the family not to worry since the two vehicles involved in the accident had insurance cover.

He said the statement was demeaning and senseless, noting that the police did not show empathy as they placed premium on insurance matters.

“They are not even talking about the four children the man left behind and the support the police will give to them. This is the type of thing that makes people to lose confidence in the police,” he added.

Several calls made to the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Bala Elkana, rang out. He also did not respond to a text message sent to him on the issue as of the time of filing this report.