Dennis Adewunmi/
Days after a constable went missing during a mission in Ijebu-Igbo area of Ogun State the family is holding a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) responsible as police authorities battle to unravel the mystery surrounding the disappearance.
Constable Emmanuel Gene whose pregnant wife is raising a girl-child was found missing on December 3, when his team led by the DPO of Ijebu-Igbo Divisional Headquarters, CSP Solotan Kazeem was ambushed as they embarked on a mission late at night.
The DPO escaped unhurt, but his men were not that lucky. Four of the officers had various degrees of machete injuries on their heads and bodies. They returned to base without Constable Gene who only joined the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) two years ago.
“Gene’s pregnant wife faints every now and then. She’s shattered by her husband’s disappearance. One of the injured policemen who received machete cuts on the head is now a mental case. They were invited by a Baale (traditional ruler) to dabble in a land matter,” a member of Gene’s family told A-One News.
In his situation report, the DPO allegedly claimed that his men were kidnapped and four of them rescued. But Gene’s family told A-One News that Kazeem has been hiding the truth from the Commissioner of Police (CP) Edward Ajogun who has been having sleepless nights trying to find the missing cop.
Countering the DPO’s claims, another member of the family said, “It’s a land matter involving 5 junior ranks and vigilantes. But, when the DPO pushed the story out, he said kidnappers. He said they were negotiating. He didn’t want to tell the CP that it was land matter. He lied that they called them for raiding at about 9:30pm.
“They went for the operation at about 9:30pm. Since last week, we’ve been in Ijebu-Igbo looking for those children. When they finished operation, he didn’t ask how far. They left that boy. He lied that they’d reinforced to the place but he never returned there. They call the place Aba Tuntun.
“Four of them suffered machete cuts. The DPO is not doing much to find the constable who has a pregnant wife at home. He’s supposed to go to the Aba to liaise with the traditional rulers there on how to find the boy.
“They said a Baale brought a petition to the station. The DPO was supposed to have received permission from the CP. He sidelined the CP who would have given him the right people for the operation. He didn’t go with the right officers. He went with the junior ranks. Out of the four policemen who sustained machete injuries to their heads, one of them has developed mental problem. One is in the barracks nursing serious injuries.
“Gene’s wife has been fainting. The DPO didn’t move until the parents went to the CP. The DPO led the operation. He ran back when the men he took there came under attack.”
Police authorities in the state, however, insisted that the mission was a joint operation with DSS operatives legally carried out to flush out some armed men in a vast forest area of Ijebu-Igbo.
According to the police, the operation has led to the recovery of 14 Dane guns and arrest of suspects.