Police hand over suspected killer ratings to Navy

The two naval ratings, who allegedly stabbed a policeman to death and fatally wounded another in Ota, Ogun State on November 12, have been handed over to military authorities for disciplinary action.

A top police source, who spoke with our correspondent in Abeokuta on Friday, said the procedure in the military and police was that an offending officer should be handed over to its service, which would determine the appropriate sanction. The naval ratings, who had gone to a hotel to relax, had allegedly engaged two policemen in a scuffle.

The scuffle arose over the affiliation of a waitress at the hotel with the ratings, leading to the stabbing of the two policemen. One of the policemen, however, died the following day at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, after spirited attempts to save his life failed.

The source said, “It is the procedure in the military and the police commands that if an officer is involved in any misdemeanour, he will have to be handed over to his formation, which will have to deliberate over his case and recommend appropriate punishment.”

He explained that the police could, however, arrest such offender after he had been dismissed by his superiors, if the offence was of a criminal nature. The source said, “If such an offender is dismissed, we will go ahead and arrest him for prosecution, if the offence is of a criminal offence. Like in this case, we cannot act until the naval authorities decides on the case of the naval ratings.

“If they are, however, dismissed for the criminal act, we will go ahead and arrest them for prosecution; but we don’t know the stage of the case as at today.”

He added that the naval authorities, which he commended for displaying maturity, visited the command when the incident happened in November to commiserate with the police and “hold necessary consultations.”

It was not possible to obtain official comments from the state police command as its Spokesman, Mr. Sunday Ubua, had been transferred to Rivers State.

source:the punch news papers