How I killed Lagos cop during stop-and-search — 21-year-old suspect

File: A Nigerian Policeman.

A 21-year-old driver, Olumide Olushola, has narrated how he allegedly knocked down and killed a police sergeant, Johnson Okediji, during a stop-and-search operation in the Egbeda area of Lagos State.

Olushola, who was paraded at the Lagos State Police Command headquarters in Ikeja on Monday, however, denied deliberately hitting the officer, claiming that the brakes of the Lexus ES 350 he was driving failed.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Tijani, said during a press briefing that the incident occurred around 2.20pm on Saturday, September 26, 2026, along Olugbede Street, Egbeda.

According to the CP, police officers on stop-and-search duty flagged down the Lexus, with registration number FKJ 223 KX, driven by Olushola, but he allegedly sped off as Sergeant Okediji approached the driver’s side, knocking down the officer in the process.

Tijani said, “The driver initially stopped but suddenly sped off as Sergeant Johnson Okediji approached the driver’s side. The officer was knocked down and dragged underneath the vehicle for several metres despite repeated attempts by police officers and passers-by to make the driver stop.

“The driver was eventually chased and arrested. The officer sustained multiple fractures and serious head injuries.”

The CP said the sergeant was rushed to a nearby hospital and later referred to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Tijani added that the deceased officer’s remains had been deposited at the Mainland Hospital Mortuary for preservation and autopsy, while the vehicle was recovered to the police station.

However, speaking during his parade, Olushola denied deliberately knocking down the officer, claiming that the vehicle’s brakes failed.

The suspect said he had seen the police officers ahead and was preparing to stop when the sergeant moved in front of his vehicle.

He claimed that the vehicle hit the officer and dragged him as he struggled to bring it to a halt.

“I was trying to stop the vehicle. The vehicle didn’t stop. That’s when the vehicle hit another vehicle in front. That’s when I fell down with the person sitting next to me,” he said.

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Olushola said he had been using the Lexus for about a month and had taken it to a mechanic a day before the incident after noticing problems with the brakes.

“I carried the vehicle to the mechanic the day before that day. I told the mechanic to change all the brake pads in the vehicle, and the mechanic told me he had changed all the brake pads,” he said.

He, however, admitted that he noticed the brake was still slipping after buying fuel on the day of the incident.

Asked why he continued driving after noticing the problem, Olushola said he planned to return the vehicle to the mechanic later that day.

The suspect, who said he sells phones, gadgets and laptops, expressed regret over the officer’s death.

“I have a lot of regrets in my mind about hitting an officer of the law. I am very pained about that,” he said.

Olushola also claimed that the Lexus belonged to his mother, who acquired it the previous month, and that he had been helping her drive it.

The police said an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of the sergeant was ongoing.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police said the command recorded several breakthroughs in its fight against crime during the period under review.

He disclosed that 32 suspects were arrested for various offences, while exhibits recovered included 43 vehicles, two vehicle keys, vandalised electrical wires and N2.5m in cash.

Other items recovered, according to the CP, included five pump-action guns, five locally made pistols, 20 live ammunition and cartridges, 15 expended ammunition, two cutlasses, assorted suspected criminal charms, a television set, a radiator, and a bag containing various vehicle spare parts and tools.