Operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team have gunned down the suspected leader of the militants that killed four policemen, a military Captain, and some civilians in the Yewa, Ikorodu area of Lagos.
The suspect, Endurance Ominisan [aka Mighty], was killed on Sunday during a shootout with the operatives at his girlfriend’s house on Joel Adebolu Street, Ibeshe, Ikorodu.
Recall that some policemen from Owutu Police Division and military officers, led by one Captain Mohammed, had responded to a distress call to rescue residents kidnapped by suspected militants.
However, while returning from the operation, the militants surrounded the operatives and opened fire on them.
Four policemen, the military Captain, and two residents, were shot dead.
The IGP response team, led by ACP Abba Kyari, was said to have been deployed in the area to bring the killers to book.
Since April 9, when the incident happened, the militants had refused to come out of their hideout.
A police source said Ominisan, however, sneaked out on Sunday to visit his girlfriend in a flat he rented for her in the Ibeshe area.
The source told Punch that the IGP team trailed him to the house and laid siege to it.
He said, “When he knew that the house had been surrounded, he ran to the roof and started shooting at the operatives. He released four bullets. He wanted to jump to the next house when the police replied to the gunfire and he was hit. He was brought down from the roof and taken to the Ikorodu General Hospital.”
The suspect, before his death, allegedly confessed to be the leader of the team that killed the policemen and the military officer.
He was also said to have admitted to being among those that kidnapped a monarch, the Oniba of Ibaland, Oba Goriola Oseni, and the schoolgirls from the Turkish International Colleges, among other kidnappings in Lagos and Ogun states.
The police were said to have recovered a Turkish Fatih 13 Pistol from the Arogbo, Ondo State indigene, with four expended bullets and five live ammunition.
A source said Ominisan’s girlfriend told detectives that she was not aware he was a kidnapper.
“She said she thought he was just a pipeline vandal and since they had been granted amnesty, she believed he had changed his ways."
The Nigeria Police Force spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood, confirmed the killing of Ominisan, adding that efforts were ongoing to flush out the militants from the creeks.
He said police would ensure that the death of the policemen and military officer was not in vain.
