Why I killed officer at police checkpoint – Businessman

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A 47-year-old businessman, Godson James, has explained how he knocked down a police officer at a checkpoint at Sobe, Ondo State, along the Akure-Benin expressway last Saturday.

The police said Mr James was evading arrest after allegedly defrauding a POS operator of N4.6 million.

The police spokesperson in the state, Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, told journalists in Akure on Monday that Mr James knocked down the Assistant Superintendent of Police, who was trying to stop his vehicle, and the officer died instantly.

She said Mr James tried to escape but was chased down to an Army checkpoint in Edo State, where he was arrested with the sum of N1.5 million in his possession.

But at the state police headquarters in Akure on Monday, Mr James denied defrauding the POS operator, saying the sum was the balance he owed the operator from a business deal between them.
He said he was running away because the operator and her brother threatened his life over the debt.

He said he refused to stop at the police checkpoint because he did not realise that the men at the checkpoint were police officers as they had blocked the road with logs.

“As I drove closer I saw wood blocking the road and people bending down, I thought they were criminals, and I was on high speed to escape when it happened. I did not even know what happened; I was concerned about my life because they shot at me,” he explained.

Mr James denied that he was trying to escape from the police. He said he was scared after being branded a kidnapper after his quarrel with the POS operator and was trying to get away from the area.

He also denied involvement in any criminal activity. Mr James said he is a contractor looking for money to pay his on-site workers.

The suspect had complained that he was not feeling well, after which the police allowed him to see a doctor shortly before his parade.

Mrs Odunlami-Omisanya said the suspect would be charged in court after police investigations.