Toba Adedeji, the Nation Newspaper, Osun reporter, who was shot by men of the Osun State Police Command has accused the Commissioner of Police, Olawale Olokode of lying.
Adedeji was shot on Wednesday, May 31, 2022, while covering a peaceful protest at Olaiya bridge in Osogbo.
The Osun CP, Olokode had featured on a live radio programme on Wednesday in Osogbo where he debunked reports that personnel under his command had shot the Nation Newspaper reporter last week Tuesday.
Olokode claimed that medical report which he received from the Osun State University Teaching Hospital, Osogbo stated that Adedeji was not shot but was wounded by a sharp object.
Adedeji, in a statement titled, ‘Police should never be trusted again”, obtained on Wednesday said the narrative of the Osun police commissioner was false.
“This reaction becomes imperative following the non-admittance of the police over the unfortunate incident and claims of the Commisioner of Police, Olawale Olokode during a radio programme in Osogbo on Wednesday that it was not a bullet but a mere metal scratch.
“I want to state it emphatically here that CP Olokode lied.
“He said when he came to pay me visit at home that I told him that I was not shot; this is a lie and it is so unfortunate, coming from a senior police officer because we never had such discussion. I told him that I was shot at the scene by policemen led by DPO Oyegade of Dugbe police station.
“In fact, he was trying to change the narrative as he told me that the police and hoodlums had a shootout at the scene, but I refuted the claim saying there was no confrontation with the protesters that warranted shooting that day. He could not talk till he left my house that day.
“The outburst of lies by the Osun State police further entrenched that the police should not be trusted for any reasons again because the people of the State are not safe again.
“Residents of Osun fear policemen more than they fear armed robbers.
“I want to state it clearly that, while I was been treated at UNIOSUN Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, the CP called some of my colleagues on phone at the hospital and started appealing that we should kill the story, saying he was wrongly briefed over the matter.
“When he was summoned to Abuja headquarters of police, he visited the NUJ national chairman that he should direct his member to stop reports on the matter.
“As far as my treatment is concerned at UNIOSUNTH, I never told them at the hospital that it was not gunshot.
“If gunshots were not fired on that day, why will I be running from the scene.”
Adedeji also put forward a 6-point demand where he demanded a retraction of statement and an apology from the Commissioner of Police for lying, independent investigation into the alleged medical report claimed by the CP was obtained from UNIOSUNTH with a view to finding out the author of the said report, invitation of the DSS to check the stramge faces trailing him since the shooting incident occurred and exposing the officers who shot him and identification of the Divisional Police Officer of Dugbe, Oyegade as the leader of the squad.
