Ondo: Suspect Who Killed Police ASP Says He Killed A Criminal, Not Policeman; Police Parades Him

By Ayodele Oni

The suspected killer of an Assistant Superintendent of Police, (ASP) 47-year old Godson Tender James, has been paraded by the Ondo State Police Command.

However, the suspect, in a twist denied ever killing any policeman and insisted he killed a criminal in self-defence.

James, who was paraded at the Headquarters of the Ondo State Police Command said the deceased officer Emmanuel Oyewole, was one of those who attacked him with a gun at Ori Ohin, near Ifon, in Ose Local Government Area of the State.

The policeman was hit by a hit and run driver on the 22nd of July, 2023, at a checkpoint along  Ifon-Benin road, but the driver was later tracked down at a nearby military check point.

While parading the suspect, Odunlami-Omisanya said the suspect was fleeing from policemen along the route who have been alerted of a crime he committed earlier in Akure, the state capital, before he killed the officer.

According to the PPRO, a woman, “Oshodi Mubowale reported at Police Scorpion office Akure that on the 21 of July, 2023 unknown man with an unregistered Ford Jeep came to her shop at No 1 Omolere shopping complex Adesida market Akure through One Thomas Toyin aged 48years and Omonigba Kehinde aged 47years both traders in the same complex.

“The said man requested he needed a cash sum of N6 million but he was only able to raise  N4.4 million from her under the pretence that he will send the money back through bank transfer but failed to do so.

“However, the complainant later called him and he kept giving excuses. She was able to trace him to an hotel, at Alagbaka area of Akure together with some of her relatives, but the said man found a way to escape in his own car.

‘In the process they had to pursue him with another vehicle but they later turned back after series of phone threats from the man.

But the suspect claimed that the only transaction he had with the woman was to exchange his mutilated notes with new notes from her.

“I was going from Lagos to Abuja and stopped over in Akure as I could not proceed because of my health. As a contractor, I don’t normally move with cash. I was with my money. I wanted to buy materials at the market and that was where I knew those women.

“I told them I need new notes. I was with some volume of money, 100 and 200 naira notes. They asked what I needed it for and I told them it’s for payment of workers on my site as people appreciate new notes rather than paying into their accounts.

“That was where they introduced me to this woman who first accused me of being either a policeman or a military man and said she needed to see my money before giving me her own money. I gave her 3.6 million naira and she counted it with a profit margin of over 400 thousand naira as we have been bargaining a day before that. She collected it, went into her shop and returned with the new notes in a bag and I collected it.

“She came down from my car, gave me her number and I told her I have another friend who is also interested in having new notes. I told her he will send her the money and I will collect the new notes for him, which was when she gave me her account details. I gave one of those who introduced me to her some money and the other collected the power bank in my car, after which I left the place.

“The alert they are talking about is from my friend and not from me. If I pointed a gun at her, would she let me leave the market? Didn’t she see where I took coke in front of her shop? Why didn’t she alert everyone if I truly pointed a pistol at her?

“I gave her the address to my hotel. She came with some people and we all entered my vehicle where one of them took my drugs, my inhaler and my phone. That was when I started feeling unsafe and had to drive out as they followed me but stopped seeing them after a while.

“As I was going, I started hearing different things about a kidnapper driving a black Tundra. I stopped at a checkpoint where they asked if I was the kidnapper they were looking for and I told them I’m not a kidnapper and I was left alone.

“All of a sudden, as I was going, I saw some people wearing police uniforms with one of them bending over on the road. As I tried to maneuver, I heard a gunshot hit my car from the front.

“Believing the police cannot just shoot at me, I believe they were robbers and maneuvered to come out at another location. That was when I hit one of them. I was trying to save my own life when I hit the person.”

Odunlami-Omisanya, who promised that the police will find out what really transpired between James and Oshodi, said the suspect will be charged to court for the murder of a police officer.