Too Bad! Lagos Policeman Kills Twin Brothers, Their Friend, Himself (Beware Graphic Image)

A drunk policeman, Stephen James, on Saturday shot
dead three male customers at a hotel in the Ketu
area of Lagos State.
Our Source learnt that among the deceased
were twin brothers identified as Taiwo and Kehinde
Oyesunle and their friend known simply as Jeje.
The

twins were the only children of their mother.
The tragic incident; which happened outside the
premises of Paulson Hotel on Anibaba Street around
4:20pm, threw the entire neighbourhood and its
environs into chaos with passers-by and residents
scampering in different directions.
According to eyewitnesses, trouble started when the
police sergeant with Force number 217884,
threatened to shoot customers if they failed to buy
him an alcoholic drink. The policeman, who was said
to be a habitual smoker of marijuana, however, felt
offended after the victims – Taiwo, Kehinde and Jeje
– cautioned him to comport himself as an adult and a
responsible policeman.
early 30s, as they stepped outside the hotel premises
where they had gone to celebrate Jeje's birthday.
When the gravity of his act dawned on him, the
policeman reportedly shot himself in the chest.
A guest at the hotel, who witnessed the killings, told
Our Source that the policeman had boasted
about wanting to kill people hours before the incident
happened.
The customer, who identified himself only as Femi,
said all efforts to pacify the policeman proved
abortive as he kept fomenting trouble and harassing
visitors with his gun all afternoon.
buy him drinks. He boasted that he felt like killing
someone today, but other customers and I pleaded
with him.
"When the three guys walked in and sat, he went to
them and threatened them too. But the guys told him
to calm down that they would take care of him but he
should comport himself as a responsible police
officer.
"Nobody knew he took offence with their statement.
The police officer shot the three guys one after the
other as they stepped outside the hotel before killing
himself. The whole thing happened like a movie," he
said.
Another resident Ladipo Idowu told our
correspondents that the policeman was known to
foment trouble in the area.
He said James usually fired his gun indiscriminately
and the residents had warned the hotel authorities to
caution him but nothing was done about it.
Another eyewitness, Dada Salawu, said, he was
passing by when he saw the policeman and the three
friends exchanging words. He said hardly had he left
the area when the policeman opened fire on the
victims.
A former girlfriend to one of the slain twins told
Our Source that they were the only children of
their parents.
The lady, who was inconsolable as she spoke to one
of our correspondents, said the twins were still
mourning the death of their father who passed away
in June 2014 when their lives were cut short.
Refusing to have her picture taken, she said, "I called
them very early on Saturday morning not to go
outside their compound after I dreamt of seeing
blood. I called them again at about 2:00pm to warn
them. The twins, however, decided to drive a vehicle
a relation had just bought at about 3:00pm. They
drove to Paulson Hotel."
The Sports Utility Vehicle which the victims drove was
still parked in front of the hotel by the time our
correspondents left the scene.
An angry mob, which later gathered at the scene of
the tragedy, attempted to burn down the hotel and
destroy properties within its premises.
As irate youths threw bottles and stones at the hotel,
lodgers ran out of their rooms with their luggage and
fled the scene. As at the time of filing this report, the
hotel had been completely deserted by staff and
guests.
The youths also wanted to burn the corpse of the
policeman, but policemen, who later got to the scene
pleaded with them.
Policemen led by the Divisional Police Officer of the
Ketu Police Station arrived at the scene at about 5.30
pm to carry the corpses away.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Joe Offor,
confirmed the killings to our correspondents on the
telephone. However, he said he had not yet received
the full details of the incident.
DSP Joe Offor said, "The policeman was on duty at
that hotel. He was attached to Mopol 22, Ikeja. He
was drunk while on duty and he acted under the
influence of alcohol."
Efforts to speak with the management of the hotel on
the incident proved abortive as it was deserted as of
6.30pm when one of our correspondents left the
scene.
When one of our correspondents visited the home of
the twins at No. 3, Dairo Street, Ketu, a sea of
sympathisers were gathered, while friends of the
victims vowed to revenge the killing. The entire
neighbourhood was in tension with nearby hotels,
drinking joints and shops closing for business earlier
than usual.
Source: SUNDAY PUNCH