Keyamo asks Police IG to investigate suspicious death at Lagoon restaurant

The Lagos police had failed to probably investigate the case, lawyer claims.

A human rights lawyer, Festus Keyamo, has asked the Inspector General of Police to intervene in the investigation into the suspicious death of Chris Onaghise, an employee of Lagoon Restaurant in Victoria Island.

According to a petition signed by Festus Ukpe and Benedicta Obanye of Mr. Keyamo’s chambers, the need to involve the police chief arose following the alleged nonchalance of cops at the Victoria Island Police Station to investigate the suspicious death of Chris.

According to the deceased father, Orobosa, he had received a call from Chris’ colleague on June 16, that something tragic had happened to his son. On getting to the restaurant two hours later, he was told that the deceased fell into the lagoon and drowned.

“Our client demanded to know why no immediate rescue efforts were made to rescue the deceased and one Mr. Rami, the Managing Director of the Lagoon Restaurant, informed our client that the restaurant had no life jackets, divers or indeed safety apparatus,” the petitioners said.

Later, the restaurant management invited a police woman who claimed to be in-charge of the case and she allegedly told the deceased father that investigations have been concluded and that she believed the deceased slipped and fell into the lagoon.

Baffled at how the investigation into the deceased death could be concluded before his body was retrieved from the lagoon or the management and eyewitnesses questioned, Mr. Onaghise went to the Victoria Island police station the next day for further explanation but District Police Officer, DPO, reportedly told the grieving father he was not aware that any case of drowning was being investigated and ordered that eyewitnesses and the restaurant management be interviewed and the body retrieved immediately.

“At about 10:00pm on Tuesday, 17th June, 2014, the body of the deceased was allegedly recovered from the same spot in which he was said to have slipped. A cursory look at the body of the deceased disclosed bruises and blood stains all over the face, suggesting a physical confrontation before the alleged drowning. To further confirm the foregoing suspicions, the deceased body did not show any signs of bowel enlargement consistent with drowning,” the petitioners disclosed.

They claimed that after the body of the deceased was retrieved, the restaurant’s management took some fishy decisions that showed that it might not be telling all that it knew about the deceased death.

First, the employee who called the deceased father to inform him of his death was sacked immediately, they claimed. The management also allegedly broke into the deceased personal locker while the key to the locker was found on the deceased’s body.

The lawyers therefore asked the IGP to order a proper investigation into the matter and institute necessary criminal charges against anyone found culpable in the deceased’s death.