Police apologises over officer’s misbehaviour

The Oyo State Police command, on Monday, tendered a public apology over the conduct of one of its men, Raymond Egbongbonwuyi, who lost control when his son died at the Oni Memorial Children’s Hospital in Ibadan, last week.

Baba Adisa Bolanta, the state’s commissioner of police, made the apology while parading some suspects to the press at the command headquarters, Ibadan.

Perhaps, too shocked to absorb the news of his son’s death, Mr Egbongbonwuyi reportedly went berserk and let loose the content of a teargas canister in the hospital’s wards where patients on life support equipment were admitted.

Mr. Bolanta said the police authority was hugely embarrassed by the policeman’s conduct and has since dismissed him from service.

“May I use this medium to apologize on behalf of the Nigeria Police Force, the state command, officers and men of the command on the embarrassing and un-police like action of the ex-policeman,” Mr Bolanta said.

“The apology is to the general public whose sensibility has been assaulted by the reportage of the incident, the medical personnel of the Oni & Sons Memorial Hospital and by extension, Oyo State, the parents, friends and relatives of the patients on admission at the hospital on this fateful day.”

The police boss denied reports that people were killed by the dismissed policeman, saying he found during his visits to the hospital that no life was lost in the incident.

He urged the press to always report his command positively and fairly, arguing that negative reportage could cause mistrust and cynicism against the police. He said the police will not condone any act of incivility or threats to the lives of the public they have sworn to protect.

Contrite suspect

Mr. Bolanta said the suspect will be tried for unlawfully damaging government’s property and using same to cause threat to human lives.

Assuring that a full scale investigation was launched to unravel the cause of the incident, Mr. Bolanta hinted that the suspect will be charged to court as soon as the state’s judiciary resumes.

The suspect, in a rather sober mood, said he never meant to harm any of the children on admission at the hospital on the fateful day. He said he would accept whatever happens to him over his action at the hospital as his fate.

Apart from Mr Agbongbonwuyi, the command also paraded other suspects for various criminal offences.