Amotekun member dismissed, faces prosecution for killing 21-year-old man

A member of the Oyo State Security Network Agency also known as Operation Amotekun is now in police net for allegedly killing a 21-year-old man identified as Tosin Thomas, in Ibadan.

The suspect was said to have fired gunshots at a crowd in the Mokola area of Ibadan on Wednesday night that killed Thomas.

The victim, according to the police, was confirmed dead at the hospital where he was rushed to.

Angered by the action, Amotekun said on Thursday that it had dismissed the suspect for acting outside the corps’ protocols and handed him over to the police for prosecution.

Commandant of Amotekun in Oyo State, Col. Olayinka Olayanju (retd.), in a statement, gave the name of the suspect as Kazeem Afolabi and expressed regrets at the killing of Thomas.

His statement read in part, “At about 10pm on Wednesday, January 13, 2021, operatives of Amotekun, led by Team Leader George Idowu, got an alert of a purported armed robbery operation at the 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, is being thoroughly investigated and will face all necessary sanctions.

“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.”

The Police Public Relations Officer in Oyo State, Mr Olugbenga Fadeyi, confirmed the incident in a statement, adding that they had commenced investigation into the matter.