Apostle Suleman tackles police for killing the suspect

Apostle Johnson Suleman, the president of Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide, has criticized the police for executing the main suspect they had detained in connection with the vicious attack on his convoy that claimed the lives of three police officers, two drivers, and two other people.

According to The PUNCH, when the gunmen ambushed the cleric’s caravan along the Benin-Auchi Road in Edo State at around 5 o’clock in the afternoon, it was on its way to a destination within the state after returning from a foreign trip.

Chidi Nwabuzor, the state police public relations officer, confirmed the incident and said that six people, including police officers and Suleman’s drivers, were slain. He also added that efforts were still being made to find the cleric’s domestic helper.

“The attack is confirmed. Three policemen were murdered; two of his (Suleman’s) drivers were killed; one domestic female worker was killed and they are still searching for another female domestic worker.

“As we speak, Apostle Johnson Suleman is safe. One of the hoodlums was gunned down and one of the vehicles was recovered,” Nwabuzor said on Friday.

Online users have been sharing a 42-second video of the dead suspect’s corpse inside of a car.

A police officer can be heard referring to the deceased suspect as a kidnapper in the video tape.

“One of the kidnappers that was captured today (Friday) while the DPO, CSP Ayodele Sulaiman, led the operation along Iyewe-Auchi Road, and after a gun fight, this one (suspect) was gunned down while others fled with gunshot wounds,” the policeman added. There is active bush trawling.

Suleman responded to the video with a tweet in which he denounced the killing of the suspect who had been given over to the police alive and said that it was done in an effort to hide evidence that would have pointed to those responsible for the attack.

The tweet from the cleric said, “Lies… There were no abductors… When he was apprehended and turned over to the police, they quickly executed him. Why? Why murder him right there and then? Who is attempting to hide their tracks?

Samuel Amune, Suleman’s attorney, also reacted by criticizing the police for murdering the suspect who was still alive when the youngsters and the vigilante apprehended him and turned him over to the police while also calling for a thorough inquiry into the incident.

“I am with Apostle Suleman right now, and I’m looking over the car in his property,” he added, continuing, “while I speak with you. Vigilantes grabbed one of the youngsters yesterday, and they delivered him alive to the Auchi Police Division.

Ironically, though, we are unsure of what transpired before learning that the cops shot and killed the man. Since the police station was not stormed by the kids, I’m not sure what the cops would concoct afterwards to justify shooting him.

“The youngster was captured and given to the police alive by the adolescents working with the vigilante. Therefore, the only conspiracy hypothesis that comes to mind right away is that the policeman may have carried out his actions as directed by a higher authority.

“Was there any gang up or trace that they are trying to cover up? These are some of the theories God will help us unravel as time progresses. The police have not given us any official reason for shooting him dead.”

The claim that the suspect was given over to the police alive and was shot dead by a policeman, according to Nwabuzor, was made in an effort to discredit the work of the cops who responded to the attack.

“That accusation is only an effort to discredit the DPO in charge of Auchi,” he declared. That is an effort to undermine the hard work they have put in. Nobody who was attacked knew anybody else, and the police were present to stop any kind of attack on anyone.

“The police have a job to protect life and property; it is their constitutional duty. The action of the police was impromptu, the action was going on when the police attended to the distress call and right there at the scene of the crime, everything took place.

“I never heard of any information that the suspect was handed over to the police. Let them (those who apprehended the suspect) come out and make clarification for that. That is not true, it is just hearsay; if anyone has a contrary opinion on that, let them come out and tell the world.