The Centre for Human and Socio-economic Rights (CHSR) in coalition with other civil society groups namely Frontline Socio-economic Research Centre (FSERC), Campaign Against Impunity (CIA), Centre for the Physically Challenged and Peoples Rights (CPCPR), Community Women Initiative (CWI) and Workbond Initiative Network (WIN) has submitted a petition to draw the attention to the failure of the police in Ogombo, Eti-Osa, Lekk and Area ‘J’ Police Command of Lagos State to investigate the gruesome murder of Mr. Sheriff Ishola Salami at MOBA town adjacent AJIRAN on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
In a statement on Tuesday signed Comrade Alex Omotehinse, President CHSR, on behalf of Civil Society Stakeholders, the group maintained that following the murder of Mr. Salami, it has made representations to the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zonal Command Headquarters, Zone II, Onikan, Lagos via a petition to draw the attention to the indifference of the police and apparent lack of commitment to investigate the incident which was duly reported at Ogombo Police Station.
According to the groups, “we are deeply touched by the pain of the immediate family of the deceased. The police authority in Lekki axis of Lagos State appears uninterested in investigating the murder which was perpetrated in broad day light. The immediate family members of the deceased are worried and frustrated by the delay that is increasingly assuming a deliberate ploy to shield the perpetrators of the heinous crime from justice.
“The deceased who is the breadwinner of the family left behind his critically ill aged mother (who unfortunately died in her inconsolable state in the last week of October, 2023), his wife Mrs. Mariam Ishola Salami and three young daughters, Sinata (5years), Ayisha (4 years), and Arafat (2 years).
“We are now convinced that 8 months after the cold-blooded murder of Mr. Sheriff Ishola Salami, the police authority in Lagos State has failed in its statutory duty of investigation in spite of the fact that the incident was duly reported at the Ogombo Police Station, Lekki.”
The groups therefore requested “that the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command act without further delay in activating investigation into the murder. We are also requesting that the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the National Human Rights Commission should demand urgent action leading to thorough investigation into the gruesome murder without further delay.”