A naval court-martial has convicted an
officer of the Force for allegedly killing a car dealer in Lagos last year.
The court-martial, which was constituted in
2012 shortly after the incident, handed out a life imprisonment sentence to the
officer who was identified as Lieutenant Baba Adamu.
It was gathered that the officer had in
May 2012 allegedly engaged the car dealer in a scuffle, which became bloody and
resulted to the death of the civilian identified as Pedro Ikhajagbe.
It was learnt that trouble started a year
earlier when the officer allegedly gave $10,000 to the car dealer to assist him
to purchase a car.
It was gathered that few months later, the
car dealer allegedly brought a vehicle which was not the exact specification
the officer requested and the lieutenant allegedly turned it down and asked
that the specification he requested be bought for him or his money be returned.
However, the car dealer allegedly requested
for more time to enable him purchase the exact specification the officer had
requested, and he was granted.
But days grew into weeks and weeks into
months and yet the car dealer was allegedly unable to reach the agreement
entered into with the naval officer.
It was learnt that one year after the agreement,
the officer who was serving in Jos, Plateau State returned to Lagos in search
of the car dealer whom it was gathered, lived in the Satellite Town area of
Lagos.
A source said before he proceeded for the
search, the officer allegedly reported the matter at the Naval Police unit at
the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Wey, but rather than wait for the naval police to
act, he proceeded on the search alone.
It was gathered that the car dealer
allegedly bolted into his apartment on sighting Naval officer and the officer
followed him.
Witnesses said a scuffle ensued resulting
to the death of Pedro, adding that Pedro did not die immediately as the officer
quickly carried the bleeding car dealer and rushed him to the Nigerian Navy
Reference Hospital in Navy Town, Ojo Lagos.
While at the hospital, the officer was
asked to get a police report to enable full treatment commence and he was
alleged to have gone to the Satellite Police Station, Agboju to report the
matter.
However, while at the police station,
report came from the hospital that the car dealer had died and the police
promptly took the officer into custody.
When the matter got to the Navy, naval
authorities directed that the officer be retrieved from police detention
facility to their own cell at the NNS Beecroft. This was done and the officer
returned to naval custody.
A Board of Inquiry (BoI) was constituted by
the Force to look into the incident and determine the culpability of the
officer.
After the BoI concluded its sitting, it was learnt that the officer was recommended to face a naval court-martial,
headed by a Navy Captain (Colonel equivalent in the Nigerian Army).
The court which started sitting since last
year, only concluded its sitting last week and handed a life sentence to the
officer for his involvement in the death of the car dealer
The Nigerian Navy, had at the time of the
incident, said Mr. Pedro Ikhajagbe, died from injuries sustained during a
scuffle he had with the naval officer in Satellite Town, Lagos.
Culled from The Sun
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