Yesterday Sergeant Stephen James, snuffed life out of three innocent Nigerian, Taiwo and Kehinde Oyesunle (twin brothers) and Jeje before shooting himself dead.
In this report our correspondent went to Ketu to know more about him, and our findings revealed that he was always terrorizing people in the area.
“Guys around always called him Terrorist and he was proud to be associated with the nickname, excited anytime he was hailed,” Sule Ajayi, a 26-year old resident of Ketu, who said he got to the scene minutes after the incident, told our correspondents.
Another resident, revealed that days before Christmas, Sergeant James who guards Paulson Hotel in the area, when hailed by resident and told to show his power, discharged four rounds of life ammunition into the air.
“Just four days ago, a young man, who visits the hotel often with his friends, came to this hotel and as usual, bought drinks for this policeman.
“While they were discussing and throwing banters, he started bragging again of how he loved shooting. The man who bought him drinks told him: ‘oya, show your power now’. The policeman brought out his gun and released four times into the air.
“Many people in the neighbourhood were scared but they later heard that it was James. That’s how we had been coping with him not knowing he was a danger waiting to happen,” the resident who spoke anonymously said.
Many residents corroborated the claims that Sergeant James, with Force number 217884, was always drunk and always loved to brazen display of power.
A resident who lives beside the hotel, but refused to mention her name for fear of being persecuted, revealed that the late police officer had often told people that he was in charge in the hotel and that the security of the hotel was in his hands.
“Many times, he had threatened people, both residents of this our area and those who patronise the hotel. When he is charged, he would yell at people over any slight provocation and threaten to shoot and kill. He would often say he is on official assignment and as a result, has licence to kill and that he could kill and label a person an armed robber and that instead of punishing him, the police authority would promote him,” the woman said, “as a result, we were very scared of him because he went about armed.”
We obtained two versions to the incident. The first version was that one of the three killed residents had a problem with some people in the hotel and the policeman was called from where he sat to intervene.
In the heat of the arguments, he was said to have shot the man and the other two who wanted to challenge him. Realising the enormity of his action, he shot himself in the chest.
The other version states that the deceased policeman had threatened customers who came to the hotel to celebrate Boxing Day.
It was learnt that as they drank, officer James went from table to table threatening some and asking others to buy him drinks. He also went to the table where the twins and their friend sat and when he made his demand, they had told him to be patient.
But as he continued to cause trouble, one of the twins was said to have asked him to act responsible for once. This statement was said to have provoked him and he went outside the hotel and waited for them to get out.
A source said the shooting at the front of the hotel occurred after a hot argument between the trio and the policeman.
Their corpses were later taken to a morgue in Ikorodu with the police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Joe Offor, confirming the incident. He was reported as saying the killer police acted under the influence of alcohol.
A police officer at the MOPOL 22 said there had been enquiry by the police top hierarchy in the state on whether the late officer was officially on duty at the hotel.
“I don’t have much information on that but I am sure we would know in the next few days if he was officially drafted to the hotel or if there are more to be heard of the incident,” he said preferring to remain anonymous.