ACTING INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE

Onitsha killer cop dismissed, arraigned in court.

Samuel Ojana, the police corporal that shot and killed a driver in Onitsha on Thursday, has been dismissed from service and charged to court for murder.
The police said in Onitsha on Friday that Ojana was dismissed after an orderly room trial for the alleged killing of Mr. Edwin Eze, a bus driver.
The dismissed policeman, who has two wives (one of them pregnant), was, however, described as a quiet and peaceful person by his neighbours.
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Muhtari Ibrahim, and other senior officers of the command relocated to Onitsha on Friday to calm the tense situation that arose after Thursday’s incident.
Ojana, who is from Agila in Benue State and attached to the Police Mobile Force 52, Onitsha, was arraigned before an Onitsha Chief Magistrate’s Court presided over by Mrs. Ngozi Okoye amid tight security on the orders of the CP.
Okoye remanded the accused in prison custody after adjourning the matter to enable the Director of Public Prosecutions to issue an advice on the matter because the magistrate’s court lacks the jurisdiction to try a murder case.
The CP said the dismissal and arraignment of Ojana were done to enthrone discipline in the force and to send a message to the public that the law must be respected irrespective of who is concerned.
He said, “The suspect, as you can see, has been dismissed after the orderly room trial and you saw him in the court today. That is to tell you that the police is committed to the rule of law and will not in any way shield anybody who has gone contrary to the law, which we swore to protect.
“It was unfortunate the incident happened, but remember, it was not deliberate, it could happen to anybody but still the police had to dismiss the suspect after finding him culpable of the offence and charge him to court; this is the level of our commitment in making sure that the law takes its full course.”
He debunked the rumour making the rounds that the suspect was an Hausa man, saying, “The suspect is not an Hausa man, it is the wrong and bad approach to the matter. He is not a Muslim as you have heard the name, Samuel, then the issue is that a policeman is a policeman no matter where he comes from.”
He called on the residents of Onitsha to go about their normal activities, promising that the police would give them adequate protection and also appealed to the rampaging drivers to be calm.
Our correspondent observed that some of the northerners that fled the city on Thursday after the riot that followed the shooting had returned to their shops at Bridge Head.