A 21-year-old driver, Olumide Olushola, has narrated how a Lagos police sergeant was allegedly knocked down and dragged under a Lexus during a stop-and-search operation in Egbeda.
The deceased officer, Sergeant Johnson Okediji, reportedly suffered multiple fractures and severe head injuries after being struck by the Lexus ES 350 along Olugbede Street, Egbeda, on Saturday.
Olushola, who was paraded at the Lagos State Police Command headquarters in Ikeja on Monday, denied deliberately hitting the policeman.
He claimed the vehicle’s brakes failed as he approached the police officers, leaving him struggling to bring the Lexus to a stop.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Tijani, said the incident happened around 2.20pm when officers on stop-and-search duty flagged down the Lexus, with registration number FKJ 223 KX.
According to the CP, Olushola initially stopped but allegedly suddenly sped off as Sergeant Okediji approached the driver’s side.
The officer was then knocked down and dragged underneath the vehicle for several metres despite efforts by policemen and passers-by to stop the driver.
The driver was eventually chased and arrested.
Okediji was rushed to a nearby hospital before being referred to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
His remains have been deposited at the Mainland Hospital Mortuary pending preservation and autopsy.
The Lexus was also recovered by the police.
But while speaking during his parade, Olushola gave a different account of the incident, insisting that he never intended to hit the officer.
“I was trying to stop the vehicle. The vehicle didn’t stop. That’s when the vehicle hit another vehicle in front. That’s when I fell down with the person sitting next to me,” he said.
Olushola said he had been driving the Lexus for about a month and had taken it to a mechanic a day before the incident after noticing problems with the brakes.
He said he instructed the mechanic to replace all the brake pads and was told the work had been done.
However, the suspect admitted that he noticed the brake was still slipping after buying fuel on the day of the incident.
He claimed he planned to return the vehicle to the mechanic later that day.
Olushola, who said he sells phones, gadgets and laptops, expressed regret over the policeman’s death.
“I have a lot of regrets in my mind about hitting an officer of the law. I am very pained about that,” he said.
He also claimed that the Lexus belonged to his mother, who bought it the previous month, and that he had been helping her drive it.
The police said investigation was ongoing into the circumstances surrounding the sergeant’s death.
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