OYO: Amotekun dismisses killer operative, 7 others over killing of youth

•Police to investigate, prosecute erring operative — Commandant

THE Southwestern Nigerian Security Network, codenamed “Amotekun”, has dismissed one of its operatives identified as Afolabi Kazeem for killing a 21-year-old man, Toxin Thomas in Ibadan, Oyo State capital on Wednesday.

Seven other team members, who happened to be with Kazeem during the gun mishap that led to Tosin’s death, were relieved of their jobs.

The Commandant of Amotekun, Colonel Olayinka Olayanju (retd.) made this known in a statement issued on Thursday.

Olayanju noted that Kazeem had been handed over to the police for prosecution.
According to the statement, Olayanju said,

“At about 10p.m., on Wednesday, January 13, 2021, operatives of Amotekun, led by Team Leader, George Idowu, got an alert of a purported armed robbery operation at Total Filling Station, Mokola, Ibadan.

“Following the distress call, the Team Leader and his team of seven members, arrived at the scene.

“On arrival at the scene of the alleged crime, it turned out that it was not an armed robbery operation, though a crowd had gathered.

“The Team Leader, sensing no immediate danger to anyone at the scene, immediately proceeded to speak with the station manager. While he was with the manager, he heard a gunshot.

“As it turned out, one of his team members, by the name, Afolabi Kazeem, who felt sufficiently threatened by the crowd, which included some hoodlums armed with cutlasses and other dangerous weapons, opened fire to supposedly scare away the crowd.

“Unfortunately, his shot hit one Mr Tosin Thomas, who was subsequently confirmed dead.

“The Corps has found that Afolabi Kazeem with Ammunition Number AM031849 acted outside the Amotekun Corps’ protocols.

“For this reason, he has been summarily dismissed from the Corps and handed over to the police for prosecution.

“Also, his Team leader, George Idowu, and six others, which formed the entire patrol team, have been dismissed from Amotekun Corps.

“We want to reassure members of the public of our internal mechanisms for dealing with erring officers.

“We will continue to train and retrain our officers on best practices and rules of engagement.

“The Corps deeply regrets the loss to the Thomas family, and we are already in touch with the family.”