Hit-and-Run Suspect Who Crushed An Officer To Death In Ondo State Has Been Arrested

The Ondo State Police Command nabbed a hit-and-run driver named Godson James for allegedly causing the death of an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) named Emmanuel Oyewole. 

The incident occurred on July 22, 2023, along the Benin-Akure Expressway in Ifon, Ose Local Government Area of the state.

After the accident, James fled the scene but was later apprehended by the Nigerian Army in Edo State. 

The police presented the suspect at their headquarters in Akure, the state capital, on August 1, where Commissioner of Police CP Taiwo Jesubiyi explained that the suspect hit the policeman while trying to escape arrest, following an allegation of fraud against him at the police station.

"Policemen and military personnel at the checkpoints along the route he took were alerted. While attempting to evade arrest, he intentionally ran over ASP Emmanuel Oyewole of Ifon Division in Ori Ohin with his vehicle. 

The officer was confirmed dead in the hospital," stated the CP. 

The suspect was later handed over to the police by officers from the 4 Brigade Headquarters, Sobe in Edo State, along with the sum of N1.5 million.

However, the 47-year-old suspect denied being involved in fraud, claiming that he accidentally hit the policeman while trying to escape from what he believed were armed robbers on the road. 

He explained, "As I was driving, I heard different things about a kidnapper driving a black Tundra. I stopped at a checkpoint, and they asked if I was the kidnapper they were looking for. I told them I’m not a kidnapper, and they let me go."

"Later, I saw some people in police uniforms, with one of them crouched on the road. As I tried to maneuver away, I heard a gunshot hit my car from the front. 

Thinking that the police wouldn't just shoot at me, I believed they were robbers, so I tried to escape to another location. Unfortunately, I hit one of them in the process. I was just trying to save my own life."

"When I stopped, I noticed that my car's radiator was damaged due to the gunshots. Some trailer drivers passing by told me that kidnappers were approaching, so I drove away. 

The military uniform they claim to have seen in my car was just a seat jacket."

In another news, some youths attacked a bus with a bomb in Senegal killing two individuals. See detailed story here

[SOURCE]