Family members of the Baale of Lotu Town, Fatai Jubril, who was allegedly murdered in the Ibeju Lekki area of Lagos State on July 15 over a land dispute, have appealed to the state government to intervene in the case.
The family lamented that there had been a standstill in the police investigation nearly five months after the Lagos chief was brutally murdered in the presence of his wife and teenage daughter.
The chief’s widow, Ejiro Jubril, during an interview with Saturday PUNCH, said she was assaulted while struggling to save the Lagos chief from the over 50 hoodlums whom she claimed invaded their residence when he was murdered.
The family had also raised concerns when the alleged prime suspect was reportedly released from the custody of the Zone 2 Police Command.
Confirming the release of the prime suspect on bail, the former spokesperson for the command, Hauwa Idris-Adamu, insisted that the investigation into the murder case had not stopped.
However, in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Monday, Moshood Jubril, who spoke for the family of the deceased chief, said they were becoming frustrated with the unending investigation and autopsy report.
“Since the murder of my brother in July, we have been going to the police station back and forth. We have not seen any concrete results. The last time we went there, they told us to bring back all the witnesses because they wanted to remove all the officers who had been investigating the case. After all the witnesses had been interviewed and mentioned names.
“We are still pursuing the corona report. What some of them are doing now is trying to appoint some people to come and beg the family. And later on, they were trying to accuse our family of burning the residence of the prime suspect.
“This is something we have never thought of as a family, even when the crime was still fresh. They killed my brother, and they are still accusing us of arson. This is an injustice. If the family members wanted to burn the suspect, would we not have done it at the time the crime was committed? We are appealing to the authorities to bring the investigation to a logical conclusion,” Jubril said.
When contacted for a comment, the newly appointed spokesperson for Zone 2, Ayuba Umma, told City Round that she would find out the status of the case from the officers in charge of the case.
“I will find out from the investigating team and get back to you,” Umma stated.
