Nava personnel kills policeman, stabs him to death in Lagos

In an altercation with some naval personnel over the weekend in Lagos' Satellite neighbourhood, an assistant superintendent of police is said to have been fatally stabbed.

The naval personnel reportedly also attacked three other people who are said to have tried to step in.

The late officer, Abion Hezikel, was said to have stopped two motorcycles with two passengers each while he was the team leader of an anti-traffic robbery patrol team in the Oluti neighbourhood of Satellite.

According to witnesses, both the riders and the passengers were dressed in mufti. A dispute is said to have broken out after one of the riders allegedly told his companion to ignore the police.

An eyewitness, who identified himself as Moyosore Similoluwa, said: “The incident happened at about 8 pm on Saturday. When the policemen insisted the Okada men should identify who they were, one of them brought out a jackknife, claiming they were military personnel. Before we knew it, the whole place was in disarray. One of the men on the motorbike stabbed one of the policemen in the chest.  

"At this point, people gathered, saying they would not allow them to go. They injured three persons, who attempted to stop them. Some policemen were also injured.  

“Two of them managed to escape on their motorcycle. But two others didn’t. The crowd held them and their bike until a reinforcement of policemen came.

“That was when they said they were naval personnel. The police rushed their wounded colleague that was bleeding to the hospital while another team took the two men to the station.”

According to police sources, ASP Hezikel was pronounced dead at the scene by the attending physician at Satellite Town Hall's Adeyemi Hospital.

The three mediators who were hurt were reportedly treated for their minor wounds and released.

The two people who were detained at the Satellite Division revealed their identities as members of the Nigerian Navy Central Pay Office, Apapa.

The suspects, Onyekachi Egwumian, 27, and Ebubechukwu Growth, 28, both with service numbers 20507 and 16933, were reportedly detained while a call was made to the military authority to verify their claim to be naval personnel.

Vanguard learned that their assertion proved to be true. The Navy was also asked by the Police to help catch the other evading personnel and release them to the Police.

When reached, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, the public relations officer for the Lagos State Police, merely stated that the investigation was still ongoing. He claimed that while the body had been left at the IDH morgue in Yaba for an autopsy, the case had been turned over to the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, in Yaba.

He continued by saying that the deceased officer's family had been contacted.

Source