IGP orders probe into killing of footballer in Ogun

Mohammed Adamu, inspector-general of police, has ordered a probe into the death of Tiamiyu Kazeem, a football player who was allegedly killed by a policeman on Saturday. The tragic incident triggered protests across Remo and Sagamu in Ogun state on Monday.

Responding after the protests, Adamu ordered deputy inspector-general of police in charge federal criminal investigation department to probe the killing of the footballer whom the police earlier said died after jumping out of a vehicle.

“Unfortunate death of Tiamiyu Kazeem in Sagamu, Ogun state: The IGP orders DIG FCID to take over investigations,” read a tweet on the Twitter handle of the police. Abimbola Oyeyemi, spokesman of the Ogun police command, had said Kazeem was knocked down by a hit-and-run driver while trying to escape after he had been arrested.

Oyeyemi also said the deceased was arrested for wearing a military cap and not on the suspicion of being an internet fraudster. But family members of Kazeem said witnesses told them that the late footballer who was with Sanni Abubakar, one of his teammates, was pushed out of a vehicle by a SARS operative, who had mistaken him for a suspected internet fraudster (Yahoo boy).

Kazeem was said to have been hit by an incoming vehicle after the incident. Dapo Abiodun, governor of Ogun, had earlier called for the arrest of those behind the footballer’s death. As a follow-up to the case of Tiamiyu Kazeem AKA Kaka, a player with the @RemoStarsSC who passed away on Saturday during his encounter with a SARS officer, I have instructed the Commissioner of Police to ensure that the culprit gets arrested & brought to book accordingly.