Policeman shoots wife dead in error

The police in Lagos have arrested a policeman, Corporal Yinka Oloko, who allegedly shot his wife dead in the Egbeda area of the state.

PUNCH Metro reports that the incident occurred at about 10pm on Tuesday in the rented apartment of the policeman. Oloko, who is attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja, had arrived home on the evening, and started to undress in the bedroom, with his wife sitting on the bed.

The corporal, while removing his pistol from the holster, was said to have mistakenly fired his wife on the lap, leading to commotion in the apartment.

Oloko, assisted by neighbours, was said to have rushed the woman to a nearby hospital, but she reportedly died before they got to the hospital.

According to a police source, the matter was a case of an accidental discharge, adding that the suspect and his wife did not have any altercation before the incident.

He said, 

“It was a case of an accidental discharge. The police corporal was not careful in removing his pistol from the holster. When he got home on that evening, his wife welcomed him and they went to the bedroom.

“As he was undressing, he removed the gun and wanted to place it on the bed when it discharged. The bullet hit the wife’s lap. He was the one that rushed his wife to the hospital. She died before they got to the hospital. He was thereafter arrested and detained in the Ikeja Police Division although the incident happened in Egbeda.”

The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Joe Offor, confirmed the arrest.

Offor, who also noted that it was an accidental discharge, said the case was being investigated at the State Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba.

He said, “The policeman has been arrested, and handed over to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, SCID, for investigation. The incident involved him and his wife. It was a sort of a discharge rather than a fight. Investigation is still ongoing.”