A lecturer and consultant pathologist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Dr Sunday Shoyemi, has presented to the Lagos Judicial Panel probing police brutality the bullet extracted from the head of a victim of police extrajudicial killing.
Shoyemi presented the bullet during his testimony in the case of Charles Otoo, who was said to have been shot by the police.
The pathologist’s appearance followed a summons by panel chair Judge emeritus Doris Okuwobi, after a request by the deceased’s wife, Victoria Otoo.
Shoyemi testified that Otoo bled to death following a gunshot injury to the head which damaged his brain.
He said: “Death was caused by severe injury to the brain following a gunshot. We extracted a bullet in the cause of examining the dead body.”
Presenting the bullet extracted from the deceased’s head to the panel, he said it would undergo a ballistic analysis.
The pathologist also presented a post-mortem report of the deceased to the panel.
Justice Okuwobi said the panel had sighted the bullet and it would be released for ballistic examination any time it was demanded.
Earlier, Mrs. Otoo testified that her husband was shot on October 21, 2020, by men of the Nigeria Police Force, Ojodu Divisional Headquarters.
Mrs. Otoo, who was led in evidence by Adebola Lema, told the panel that the incident happened around 6pm on October 21 at Ojodu Berger.
“My husband and I went to the Bus Stop at Akiode, Ojodu Berger, to buy foodstuffs for the family that evening in the neighborhood market, at Ishola Bello Street.
“After buying what we wanted to buy, the police started shooting. I ran to one side, he ran to another side but it was not far. The police continued shooting, after some minutes, I saw my husband on the floor, he was shot at the head,” Mrs. Otoo said.
The deceased’s wife said the officers were led by the Station Officer (SO) of Ojodu Police Division.
She alleged that her husband was shot by a female officer named Chinyere.
She told the panel that residents around could not help her husband immediately he was shot because the police were still shooting.
Mrs. Otoo said after several gunshots, the police left the area and her husband was rushed to County Hospital, Aguda, with the help of passers-by.
He was pronounced dead by one Dosumu Y.A, a doctor.
“The doctor said he has lost a lot of blood, the police shoot him in the head,” she said.
The deceased was described as a responsible father of three who never had any issues with police officers before they shot him.
But the police denied knowing Chinyere.
Police counsel Joseph Eboseremen, fielded the station officer of the Ojodu Police Station, Lukeman Sowemimo as the defence witness.
Sowemimo said he drafted men to the Ojodu area on October 21 because “hoodlums were attacking the area, including the police station” adding that he did not know the alleged shooter.
When shown the bullet brought before the panel by the pathologist, Lukeman said the “bullet is from pistol.”
“The difference between pistol and a rifle is that pistol can only kill at a close range while rifle can kill from any distance.
“I am not a ballistician but with the experience as a mobile man, if I see a pistol ammunition, I can differentiate it from an AK 47 ammunition,” he said.
He however admitted that police officers carry pistols.
Credit: The Nation