Family members, friends and colleagues gathered on Friday in Ibadan, Oyo State, to pay their last respects to Kazeem Sunmonu Abonde, the police officer that was murdered in the line of duty by hoodlums on Thursday, September 23, at Ajao Estate in Lagos State.
Abonde, 54, was a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) as of the time of his death. He was killed during an operation to curtail the lawlessness of commercial motorcycle riders in Lagos.
Before conveying his body for interment at his family home at a settlement on Akanran Road in Ibadan, the Lagos State police command had held a lying-in-state for Abonde at the command’s headquarters in Ikeja, after which his fellow officers, led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, Ahmed Magaji Kontagora, who represented the Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, drove in a convoy to the deceased’s final resting place.
At the police arrival with the corpse, the gathering burst into wailing. A guard of honour was mounted for him by police officers in ceremonial uniform.
After the guard of honour and parade, Kazeem’s body was removed from the ceremonial casket, in accordance with Islamic doctrine and clerics said the Fida’u prayer on his body, which was wrapped in a white shroud and laid on the ground.
After this, they proceeded to the graveside and waited until 21 gun salutes were fired into the air before lowering him into the grave.
As this went on, the deceased’s sons stood by the graveside, while his daughters stood a distance away. His wife, overwhelmed with emotions, sat away from the vicinity and could not utter a word during an attempt to conduct an interview with her.
A leader of the Abonde family, Dr Oladeji Dauda Abonde, who described himself as confidant of the late police officer, said: “We used to work together on any happenings in the family. We are from Abonde family.”
He said: “I don’t usually pick calls after 8.00 p.m., and on the day of the occurrence, I had slept. But when I got up to put off the generator, I saw that I had missed 36 calls. I was wondering who it was and I saw a message from a family member asking me to check the picture sent to me and call a number forwarded to me.
“I zoomed the picture sent to me. It was the face of a person that had been battered beyond recognition. I saw his name tag ‘K.S. Abonde’ and I knew immediately he was the one. My phone fell from my hand and I could not sleep again. I couldn’t hold myself together and everyone that heard the news that night cried. He played a big role in the family and among friends.
“At about 11.00 p.m., I called the Lagos State police command officer whose number was forwarded to me and he said we should come to Lagos for the release of Kazeem’s corpse.
“The following day, we went to Lagos but we were told there was the need to do a post-mortem, while a three-man committee was raised to see to the burial. His lawyer-friends were just weeping. He was a breadwinner of the family.
“He got recruited into Nigeria Police Force with his secondary school certificate. He got his OND and HND in Secretarial Studies through struggle, but still was not promoted until Tafa Balogun did it for those with additional qualifications. I learnt he was regarded as an intelligent officer.
“He secured admission to study Law at the Lagos State University and finished in 2018. He then did a Master’s degree which he finished in 2019. Three days before his death, I discussed with him about his chambers and introduced him to an officer of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) who could be of assistance as he would start his practice in his chambers after his retirement, not knowing that his life would be cut short.”
Kazeem’s immediate elder brother, the first child of their parents, Mr Lukmon Abiodun Sunmonu-Abonde, also spoke with Saturday Tribune. He said: “The news of his (Kazeem’s) death came to us as a shock. We met in Lagos in September when we went for the introduction ceremony of a family member. He was the one who coordinated everything and we had planned the wedding for December 18 but now Kazeem is dead. “He loved his family. He embraced all. He participated actively in family activities.”
Credit: tribuneonlineng.com
