Sophia Michaels
In the midst of speculation about a possible assassination, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun has taken over the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the murder of Daniel Adefemi Okunade, a staff member of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Daily Post reports.
Okunade, a top ranking officer in the Internal Audit Department of CBN, was shot in the head by suspected assassins on Tuesday while returning from work.
He was killed inside the Wisdom Supermarket popularly known as Abdullahi Supermarket at Koroduma Community of Nasarawa State, near Abuja, where he had gone to buy bread and other items for his family.
Although Police in Nasarawa State have stepped into the killing, it was gathered that the Inspector General of Police has taken over the probe following the request of the management of the CBN.
Besides getting the IGP to take over the investigation, the CBN is also said to be on the verge of moving the corpse of the deceased from the Mararaba Medical Center in Mararaba to Asokoro General Hospital in Abuja for security reasons.
It was gathered that the Inspector General of Police had immediately after granting the request of the CBN, deployed crack detectives from the Force Headquarters in Abuja to the scene of the incident.
The detectives were said to have promptly interrogated the manager of the supermarket who escaped death by whiskers after which the footage of the CCTV camera was played to get lead and first hand information towards identifying and locating the culprits.
Three other persons murdered along with the CBN staff have not been identified. But it was gathered that security operatives have found one of them to be a staff of the Federal High Court in Abuja but kept his name for security reasons.
It was gathered that the CBN raised serious concerns and suspicions into the killing of the staff as his Toyota Venza car parked outside the Supermarket was not touched by the men of the underworld.
Apart from not touching anything tangible in the supermarket, the gunmen were said to have searched the CBN man after shooting him, before rushing out after ascertaining that he was actually their target.
Besides being a CBN staff, the late Okunade, who hailed from Iree town, near Osogbo in Osun State, is said to be choirmaster of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), also in Koroduma Community popularly known as One Man Village.
As of the time of filing this report, the supermarket is still under lock and key to prevent exhibits from being tampered with.
The Commissioner of Police (CP) in Nasarawa State, Mr Umar Shehu Nadada and his deputy in charge of criminal investigation department
were said to be fully working with operatives from Abuja for a comprehensive investigation that would lead to getting the perpetrators of the crime.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Nasarawa State Police Command, DSP Ranham Nansel, had while confirming the killing to newsmen said that the hoodlums invaded the supermarket at 8.45 pm shot and killed four customers.
“I wish to confirm that on the second of January 2024 at about 8:45 hours some hoodlums numbering about four, attacked Wisdom supermarket at Adeyi Karu Local Government Area in Nasarawa state and killed four customers,” Nansel said.
