Oladapo Olaitan Olaonipekun aka “Dagrin” killed in a car crash in April 2010 in Mushin Lagos |
The fatal
night-time crash that involved a budding Nigerian rap artist named
Olaitan Olanipekun, famously known as “Da Grin,” was caused by the
police, sources and residents in Mushin say.
Da Grin’s death is the
latest casualty, in a long running battle between terrified residents,
and a police force many believe that is out of control.
Policemen at the Alakara Police Command in the Mushin area of Lagos
State are notorious for illegal raiding, bribery, and even escapades of
what some call ‘murder at night.’ Such is the wary view of some
residents in the Mushin area that have come forward in a series of
interviews with a SaharaReporters correspondent. The death of Da Grin,
for many, may well be ‘the tipping point.’
From a history recounted by witnesses, the circumstances, which led
to the death of Da Grin, is a continuation of a disturbing pattern by
police. It began following a horrific auto crash on a local road.
The eyewitnesses, who said they were first to reach the scene of the
road crash to assist, did so without first knowing who the victim was.
It was a messy, even a bloody scene, they said. While approaching the
scene, the sources said, policemen actually covered- up their role in
the accident, while creating an artificial after-scene for the world to
see later.
Dagrin’s car after the crashthenetng |
“I was there that night, and we did not even know at first that it
was anyone (famous) like that. We were only helping to remove his body
and to rescue him,” said a young witness, a man, who stepped forward and
agreed to speak with a SaharaReporters correspondent on the condition
of anonymity.
“What actually happened that night was that the policemen had stopped
the cement truck at the middle of road, and of course, they could only
be asking for a bribe.
“Unfortunately, the truck had no rear light, (of any kind,) and so
the oncoming car was unaware of any vehicle ahead. It just rammed head
on, into it from the back.
“It rammed into the truck hard without holding the brakes at all, and
that is because the truck in its front, had no light to show anything
was there.
“That period, there was a crater around that place and they just repaired it after then.
“So after we removed the body, we realized it was Da Grin, and he was
groaning. They asked the truck driver to move forward and park out off
of the road. They then moved Da Grin’s car afterwards so it would then
look like he went to hit the truck where it parked.
“We were not thinking about all these as an attempt to change the
story. We were only concerned about helping the victim of an accident,
and by when they finished their artificial story, the world was only
waiting for Da Grin’s recovery. But news broke later that he had died at
the hospital.
“What made their story work was that the car did not hold its breaks,
so there was no sign of screeching on the ground. Otherwise, the marks
of friction from the tyres would be in the spot where it was removed,
before parking it, and rearranging the scene.
“They did everything very fast, and by morning, they were no longer
the cause of the accident.) Just like on Tuesday night, that they scared
everyone away, and washed the blood stains of their victim within a
brief period,” the young man continued.
“Of course, they caused the accident that killed Da Grin. And that is
how they commit so much atrocities here in Mushin that the public will
not know about, or what the truth is.
“We live here and we see them live, every time,” he added.
Alakara Police Station in Mushin |
The residents said it was high time the authorities checked excesses in atrocities of men at the Alakara Police Station.
Another killing allegedly by policemen at the Alakara Police Station
occurred on Tuesday night of this week, further triggering their grief,
and provoked them to expose that police atrocity, and approach
SaharaReporters. That killing, as well, was covered up say the sources,
in order that residents in the community, and people outside, would not
know of it.
On Tuesday night, the 22nd of July, the witnesses said policemen were
mounting a checkpoint at the junction of their Station, known as
Alakara Police Station. There, police allegedly fired a gunshot during
what seemed like an argument, between the police, and a bus driver.
The witnesses said they had no idea what exactly transpired, but
suggested it could only be an argument over a bribe, as the policemen
are said to be known for in the area.
The bus drove forward and briskly pulled up. “All passengers rushed
down from it, and the bus zoomed off with a desperate speed like someone
trying to escape from the scene,” one witness who recounted the scene
told our correspondent who later visited it.
“Everything happened fast and it made us curious because at the spot
where the passengers all rushed down, it was unusual,” he continued.
Another resident near the scene of the incident who also shared the
same story said, “It was around 9.30pm, and everything happened (right)
before my very eyes.”
The resident said he was alerted at the sight of two men using a
torchlight, only to see another person laying on the ground near them.
The driver of the bus immediately drove-off from the spot.
“I moved closer to see what was happening. The man was lying
unconsciously, and was soaked with blood. He wore a sporting shirt
branded, ‘Barcelona FC,’ a short pair of jeans, and a pair of sports
footwear,” the witness described in his account.
“I do not know whether he was a passenger on the bus, or the bus
conductor, but the people I met there looking at him with torchlight
said, he was shot by the policemen.”
The witness said he immediately recalled that there was gunshot at
the policemen’s checking point only few seconds before. Afterwards, the
bus stopped and all the passengers rushed off from it.
“By when I would realize any more things, we saw some policemen coming around. They scared all of us away,” he continued.
The witness said he hid nearby, somewhere near his house, to see everything that happened as it unfolded before him.
“They saw the corpse, checked him, and saw he was dead, then they left.
“Four of them returned soon afterwards with their old Mitsubishi van, and they took the corpse into the back of it.
“They then pushed him in, folded him, and tucked his legs under the
seat, so that no part of his body was showing outside. Then they drove
back to their station and parked the car, facing its outside and its
back which contained the victim’s body inside, so that no one saw what
they did next.
“But I was sure he (the victim) had died,” he stated.
Another witness, who also resides within the area, had said that the
policemen returned soon afterwards to the scene, and cleaned-up
bloodstains from the spot.
“We were shocked, but we could not go to sleep, so we saw everything,” he said to a SaharaReporters correspondent.
“After they took the body away from the scene, three of them returned
later but in mufti wears. One took a torchlight, the second had a
bucket containing water, and the third man had a broom.
“Although it was drizzling that night, they took water from their own
bucket, and swept off every stain of the victim’s blood so that nothing
was left (behind) on the ground to suggest anything had happened
there,” the second witness stated.
Another young man, who requested that he not to be named, said he
also saw the policemen using their vans to carry the victim away.
“I know the van they used to carry the victim very well. It is the
same that summersaulted sometime ago, when they went to do an illegal
raid at the Empire hotel, which is not in their jurisdiction. One woman
was said to have caused them trouble in the hotel that day and they had a
terrible accident before getting to their Station.
“They managed to repair it later, and painted (over) it, but they did
not bother to write their usual donor’s name, or their Station on it,
after then,” the young man said.
After the Tuesday night’s killing, our correspondent noticed that the
policemen had not resumed work at their checking point at time of
filling this report. But residents said cynically that they are expected
back soon, once they get over their last illegal killing.
But more curious is a revelation by the young witness in one of the
frequent atrocities committed by men of the Alakara Police Station,
which they covered-up almost successfully.
“What baffles me, but which also gives me great concern, is how they
swiftly reconstruct the scenes and ‘sell out’ another version to claim
innocence,” the young witness said.
“By now, I know that families of the man they killed on Tuesday night
would have been given an artificial story that will be almost
un-provable otherwise.
The Alakara policemen are described as very apt, and swift, in
immediately ‘cleaning up’ their dirty business, leaving behind little,
to no evidence, of their atrocities, several sources have told a
SaharaReporters correspondent.