The Nigeria Police on Wedneday arrested four cops for extrajudicial killing of two suspected robbers in their custody in Lagos.
The policemen were identified as Inspector Fabiyi Omomayara, Sergeant Olaniyi Solomon, Sergeant Solomon Sunday and Corporal Aliyu Mukaila.
According to the Poluce statement, the arrested operatives would be charged with murder because they breached the code of professional conduct and use of fire arms.
The killer cops were seen in a video that surfaced on the social media shooting the suspects alleged to belong to a notorious armed robbery gang terrorising Iba, a suburb of Lagos.
It was gathered that the cops had responded to a distress call around 3pm on August 19, from one Valentine Anugu who was robbed of his mobile phone worth N450,000 by four armed robbers on two motorcycles.
While two of the suspected armed robbers fled, the others were held, disarmed of the two locally pistol, six live and five expended cartridges they had before shooting them inside the commercial bus they (police) used for the operation.
Condemning the action of the policemen, Bala Elkana, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and Lagos Command spokesman, said they went to the extreme and violated the rules on the treatement of suspects in custody.
Although the gang was said to be notorious in the area, the police team took their celebration of the arrest to the extreme by killing the suspects, Elkana said.
“The team went extreme by killing the suspects who were already in their custody instead of taking them to the Police Station and allowing the normal process of investigation and prosecution to be initiated as stipulated under procedural laws.
“That act of extrajudicial killing falls short of police professional standards and cannot be condoned by the command.
The Commissioner of Police Lagos State, Zubairu Muazu has ordered a thorough investigation into the incident.
“The police officers are currently subjected to internal disciplinary proceedings known as Orderly Room trial and if found culpable, they will be dismissed from the Force and handed over to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) Yaba for prosecution in the conventional court.
“The public will be updated on the outcome of the investigation and trial,” said Elkana in a statement released on Wednesday.