Civil society stakeholders under the aegis of the Centre for Human and Socio-Economic Rights (CHSR), alongside its partners across civil society platforms, have called for an investigation into the murder of a youth leader in Ajiranland, Lagos State, Sherriff Ishola Salami.
While alive, Salami was said to advocate against land-grabbing activities in the community. However, he was attacked and shot dead on April 18 while attending a social event close to his residence.
During a press briefing to mark the first anniversary of Salami’s death, CHSR President, Comrade Alex Omotehinse, said the organization was appalled that the police were yet to investigate the incident despite a petition sent to the Lagos State Government, House of Assembly, Lagos State Commissioner of Police, and the Inspector General of Police.
He said the family of the deceased had been mourning the loss of their beloved son, husband, and father without any glimmer of hope of getting justice, as the law enforcement agencies, particularly the police charged with the responsibility of protection and conducting criminal investigations, had not been forthcoming.
The groups affirmed that the continued silence of those charged with the responsibility of public accountability and justice, one year after the murder of a citizen, is reprehensible and criminal.
The statement reads in part: “Civil Society Stakeholders under the platform of Centre for Human and Socio-Economic Rights (CHSR) and partners across civil society platforms in Lagos State and at the national level consider it pertinent to address the media on the one-year anniversary of the gruesome murder of a leader of the youth in Ojomu community, Mr. Sheriff Ishola Salami (a.k.a. Agboworin) at MOBA town adjacent AJIRAN on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
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“One year after the gruesome murder, we are appalled that the police were yet to conduct an investigation into the callous incident.
We therefore wish to restate our earlier stance that the apparent nonchalance of the police authority was deliberately orchestrated to frustrate the investigation and deny justice to the immediate family of the deceased.
“You would recall that in the last one year, we have had cause to call out the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun with an appeal to the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on the need to fish out the perpetrators of the heinous crime and bring them to book in accordance with the dictates of the rule of law and the interest of justice.
“In the last one year, the mother of the late Sheriff, who was terminally ill at the time of the unfortunate incident, passed on in trauma, while his wife, Mrs. Mariam Ishola Salami, and three young daughters, Zinat, Asisat, and Arafat, are yet to be reassured that justice would be done to the memory of their loved one.
“The family of the deceased has been left to mourn their beloved son, husband, and father without any glimmer of hope of getting justice since the law enforcement agencies, particularly the police charged with the responsibility of protection and conducting criminal investigations, have not been forthcoming.
We are, therefore, compelled to again demand that the suspected masterminds and accomplices in the cold-blooded murder of Mr. Sheriff Ishola Salami, whose photograph is displayed on the banner for this press conference, be investigated by the police.”
