In May 1990, Samuel Ojo joined the Nigeria Police Force (NPF). His career began at the Force Headquarters, Obalende, Lagos State. A few years later, Sergeant Ojo found himself transferred to the Morogbo police station in Badagry, Lagos State. And that was where the tragic chapter of his life began.
In December 2009, in the bubbling state of Lagos, three days after the Christmas celebration, an incident occurred in the afternoon at Ibiye bus stop, Badagry. Thugs had attacked a police officer, and then the DPO of the Morogbo police station, getting wind of the situation, assigned Ojo, alongside four officers, to be sent as reinforcement, but this didn’t end well.
“ On getting there, it was festive period and people were everywhere, so he just heard a gunshot sound and looking behind him, he found a civilian in blood, so one of those thugs fired at my dad, but the bullet hit a passerby identified as Pastor Olusegun Olatunde. When the thug wanted to shoot again, my dad had to respond, and the thug eventually died,” Semasa Ojo, his first son, told Within Nigeria.
That single incident defined the remaining years of Sergeant Ojo’s life. Within Nigeria learnt that his police file was tagged as a murder case and was thereafter sent to Panti. Ojo was arraigned and remanded to Panti Prison for six months.
The long ordeal just started
Fast forward to 2010, Ojo was released on June 23 after spending six hellish months in Panti Prison. He was, however, found not guilty. Upon returning home, he was dismissed from the NPF, and his salary withheld.
Semasa told Within Nigeria that the case was later transferred to the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for recommendations.
“ My dad said it clearly that he did nothing wrong and he’s waiting for DPP’s advice,” Semasa told Within Nigeria.
“He went to DPP. He even hired a lawyer then. He lost contact with the lawyer when he lost his phone and doesn’t have money to hire another one. I once took my parents to Alausa because of this case. The police force never looked into the case.”
Even after Pastor Olusegun testified that it was the thug who shot at Sergeant Ojo first, 15 years passed without the DPP’s advice. In 2023, the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) wrote to the Police Service Commission, appealing for Sergeant Ojo to be reinstated, and for his withheld salaries since 2010 to be paid.
According to a document seen by Within Nigeria, the CDHR stated that the IGP did not respond to its request despite repeated efforts, hence the need to reach out to the commission.
Within Nigeria reached out to the Lagos State CDHR Chairman, Kehinde Adeoye, who was in charge of Ojo’s case. He confirmed that efforts were made to reach out to the PSC, but he got no response.
“We contacted the Police Service Commission through the PPRO of Lagos Police Command. Since then, what we were being told was that the Police Service Commission was being reconstituted, and till date, no response from them,” he said.
Adeoye told Within Nigeria that he wants the police to pay all of Ojo’s entitlements, “including all his salary arrears since the time he was stopped till date, to his family.”
Semasa told Within Nigeria that when no response came from the Police Service Commission, he then reached out to the Lagos state Police PRO, Benjamin Hundeyin, who consistently assured him that his father’s case would be attended to.
“ Hundeyin said the board that will decide on the case hasn’t been reconstituted, then, until late last year, when he told me they’ve been reconstituted and would likely sit on the case soon,” he said.
Semasa showed Within Nigeria several text messages from Hundeyin assuring him that the case would be handled, but years have passed, and Sergeant Ojo’s case has been abandoned.
His health only worsened. According to Semasa, Sergeant Ojo developed Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after he was released from prison, which then degenerated into dementia.
Sergeant Ojo breathed his last on July 27.
If Ojo had not been unfairly dismissed, he would have retired in May 2015. Within Nigeria discovered his monthly salary before dismissal at N50,000. He would have accumulated 180 months between June 2010 and May 2025. Within the period that spanned across 15 years, he would have gained N9,000,000 basic salary if he did not enjoy any promotion.
This excludes his pension and retirement gratuity of over N2 million.
Within Nigeria reached out to Hundeyin, but repeated calls and messages were left unanswered. Also, we reached out repeatedly to the PSC via the number made available on their website, but while one number wasn’t accessible, the other one was, but unanswered.
Also, efforts were made to reach out to the commission via X, but we got no response.
His dismissal breached relevant laws
Sergeant Ojo’s ordeal breached relevant Nigerian law. His lawful act of self-defence was protected under Section 33 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, as amended. While the law states that every person has the right to life and no one shall be deprived of their life intentionally, it also permits self-defence, which is not a violation.
Also, the Criminal Code is clear on matters of self-defence: Section 286 permits the use of reasonable force against an unlawful attack, while Section 287 goes further, allowing a person to use even deadly force if faced with an assault that threatens death or grievous harm. This is also contained in the Police Reviewed FORCE ORDER 237.
When the incident happened, Ojo was confronted with precisely such a threat. His decision to return fire was not an act of recklessness but one of survival — a response the law itself recognises as lawful.
Yet, instead of being shielded by these provisions, he was cast aside and branded a criminal, and his life taken away from him.
Witness narrates 2009 event
The witness to the 2009 shooting, Pastor Olusegun, recounted how the incident unfolded. Semasa had gone to interview him after his father’s death. At the time of the incident, Pastor Olusegun was the officiating pastor at CAC Ibiye.
According to the video interview seen by Within Nigeria, he explained that he was on his way to a meeting at Magbon, a bus stop along the Badagry Expressway, but had alighted at Ibiye, where he was struck by a bullet.
“When I got down from the motorcycle, I saw a crowd of people running away from the policemen. I also saw some area boys confronting and attacking the policemen. Then, a bullet hit me from the right side. Pa Ojo came to carry and rescue me. While I was there, one of the area boys who had been attacking the policemen tried to run away, but he was shot down right in my presence,” he said.
Continuing his account, Pastor Olusegun said, “I was taken to the hospital while the policemen were holding a meeting at the spot where I had gone to meet them. When they arrived, they didn’t see the doctor, so they planned to take me to Badagry. However, one of the policemen said that if they took me to Badagry, I might die before we got there. He then directed that I be taken to their station, because there was a hospital opposite it. I was rushed there, and that was where I received treatment.”
A few weeks later, Pastor Olusegun was invited to Panti, where he testified that Sergeant Ojo had not fired the shot that hit him, adding that “he had only tried to help me.” At the time, Sergeant Ojo was already in Panti’s custody.
Pastor Olusegun said he felt deeply saddened when he learned that Sergeant Ojo had been dismissed.
For 15 years, Sergeant Ojo waited in vain for feedback from the DPP. His faith in the force he once served slowly withered as the years slipped by. He died still waiting.
The father of six lost his source of income because he defended himself against an armed attacker. He survived that day, but the NPF ultimately took his livelihood—and, eventually, his life.
“Life has been unbearable for us, but here we are, he’s dead,” Semasa told Within Nigeria.
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