The family of one of the victims of a robbery incident in Idanre town in Idanre Local Government Area of Ondo State, Tolulope Alalabiaye, has appealed to the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Oyeyemi Oyediran, to prosecute one of the suspects who was arrested over the incident.
The suspect, Babatunde Adeoye (a.k.a Para), who allegedly shot the victim and three other people at a shop during an alleged robbery operation in Idanre, was arrested and paraded by the state police command last week.
The police commissioner, while parading the suspect in Akure, the state capital, said: “On August 16, 2022, a complainant reported that a group of boys numbering about five led by one Babatunde Adeoye (Para) shot and robbed him of his bag containing a large sum of money.”
The police boss who said efforts were on to apprehend other members of the gang, said the suspect would soon be arraigned in court.
Some days after the parade of the suspect, the family said the police allegedly refused to charge the suspect to court.
Speaking on the incident, the mother of the victim, Mrs Tola Aladenola, alleged that the state police command was under pressure to release the victim without charging him to court.
She said, “We want to appeal to the Commissioner of Police to go ahead and prosecute this man (suspect) because we learned that the command is under intense pressure from ‘the power that be’ to release the suspect secretly.
“This may be responsible for why the suspect has not been arraigned in spite of the overwhelming evidence and the confession of the suspect himself that he actually committed the crime.
“We want justice to be done; we have spent a lot in treating my son and nobody comes to the rescue. We are demanding justice.”
However, in a reaction, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs Funmilayo Odunlami, denied the allegation, saying the suspect would soon be charged to court.
“The allegation is not true, the police is not under any pressure to release anybody, when it is time, all the suspects in custody would be charged to court after thorough investigation,” the PPRO stated.
