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Facts have emerged on how Sergeant Stephen James, police murdered three residents and also took his own life in Ketu area of Lagos state on Boxing Day.
The News reports that the late police officer was proud of the ‘terrorist’ tag placed on him by residents of the area.
Sule Ajayi, a 26-year-old resident of Ketu who reportedly got to the scene of the incident minutes after the occurrence, said: “Guys around always called him Terrorist and he was proud to be associated with the nickname, excited anytime he was hailed.”
The late police officer with Force number 217884, shot dead a set of twins, Taiwo and Kehinde Oyesunle and a third person simply identified as Jeje in a Boxing Day tragedy at the Paulson Hotel located on Anibaba Street, Ketu during a footbal match before killing himself.
“Many times, he had threatened people, both residents of this our area and those who patronise the hotel. When he is charged, he would yell at people over any slight provocation and threaten to shoot and kill.
“He would often say he is on official assignment and as a result, has licence to kill and that he could kill and label a person an armed robber and that instead of punishing him, the police authority would promote him. As a result, we were very scared of him because he went about armed,” one of the residents of the area said on the condition of anonymity.
Residents of the area who confirmed that Sergeant James was often drunk informed that he often smoked too.
According to Ajayi: “Just four days ago, a young man, who visits the hotel often with his friends, came to this hotel and as usual, bought drinks for this policeman.
“While they were discussing and throwing banters, he started bragging again of how he loved shooting. The man who bought him drinks told him: ‘oya, show your power now’. The policeman brought out his gun and released four times into the air.
“Many people in the neighbourhood were scared but they later heard that it was James. That’s how we had been coping with him not knowing he was a danger waiting to happen.”
Investigations revealed two versions to the incident; the first being that one of the three killed residents had a problem with some people in the hotel and the policeman was called from where he sat to intervene and during the arguments that ensued, he was said to have shot the man and the other two who wanted to challenge him.
The officer was said to have shot himself in the chest on realising how much damage he had done.
On the other hand, the late Sergeant was said to have threatened customers who came to the hotel to celebrate Boxing Day, asking them to buy him drinks.
It was in the course of the harassment that James reportedly stormed the table where the twins and their friend sat and when he made his demand, they had told him to be patient.
The officer was asked to asked to behave responsibly for once after continuing with his harassment of the twins, a statement which was said to have irked the impatient officer.
He was said to have laid ambush for the young men outside the hotel and a source reliably informed that the shooting at the front of the hotel occurred after a hot argument between the trio and the policeman which ended in the demise of the parties involved.
Their corpses have since been deposited at a morgue in Ikorodu and the police public relations officer, Joe Offor, confirmed the incident, stating that the killer cop was under the influence of alcohol.
“I don’t have much information on that but I am sure we would know in the next few days if he was officially drafted to the hotel or if there are more to be heard of the incident,” a police source informed while preferring to remain anonymous.
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