The family members of a 41-year-old police officer, Yemisi Makinde, who was killed in the armed robbery attack that took place in Offa, Kwara State, recently are still in shock over the sudden death of their daughter.
Some of the family members, who spoke to our correspondent, lamented that the robbers operated unhindered and unchallenged by anyone.
Many of them noted that the police could not confront the robbers, who were said to be heavily armed with modern weapons.
Recall that the robbery attack, which threw the area in a panic, left at least 30 people dead.
Speaking to our correspondent on the phone, the late officer’s father, Mr. James Oyeyemi, who is a retired police officer, lamented the lack of “modern sophisticated firearms for the police.”
He regretted that policemen and other security agents on ground when the incident occurred, took cover while the others fled.
He noted that the officers did not have modern weapon to confront the robbers.
“The police said they do not have the kind of weapons the robbers came with. The police have AK-47, while the robbers came with machine guns, as I gathered. How could someone with AK-47 face somebody with a machine gun? The police do not have sufficient weapons,” the 72-year-old father of the slain inspector told our correspondent.
Oyeyemi, who retired in 1998 after 35 years in service, said in the past, the force was properly funded, adding that the situation was no longer the same.
He added, “It is not good to talk about the security situation in Nigeria because it is too bad. If there was enough security, how would armed robbers come to police station and attack police officers?
“In the past, the Inspector General used to equip the police force with armoured cars and bulletproof vests. So, where are they now? They do not maintain the vehicles for operations, they do not buy arms, and they do not pay them well. How do they want the police to perform? They cannot perform.”
The 72-year-old retired police officer also accused the police of failure to officially notify family members of the officers killed in the Offa attack.
He added, “Although I got the information about my daughter’s death hours after the attack and we arranged for her corpse to be retrieved. But I learnt that many families of other slain officers were not informed in time about the incident. Corpses of the deceased policemen were dumped in a mortuary in Ilorin and nobody cared for them. It is wrong. I am a retired police officer. On our part, we are fortunate may be because I am in Ilorin and I know that my daughter was in Offa. So, I was able to track the development. Those whose families are not here, are not usually informed in time.
“In the past, they would have contacted families of the deceased police officers, who would arrange how to bury their dead. They would then talk of how to get their entitlements. But nowadays, it is not the same.”
The retired officer described her late daughter as “loving, gentle and respectful.”
Our correspondent gathered that the slain female inspector had on the day before the incident taken to her Facebook page to celebrate her late sister’s twins on their
birthday.
Also speaking, a friend to the late officer, Rufus Adewale, described Makinde as a good Christian, both in word and
action.
“Aunti Olopa, as we fondly called her, is a police officer per excellence and she had integrity. She is a good Christian, both in word and deed. She was serving with Owode Police Station, Offa, Kwara State; she was one of the victims of the robbery attack. The heavily armed robbers attacked both the Owode Police Station and the commercial banks in the area. And not less than 50 people were said to have lost their lives in this unfortunate incident. It is so unfortunate that we lost her to that unpalatable occurrence,” Adewale told our correspondent
in Lagos.
The late police officer was married with a child.
