AS a fallout of the circumstances surrounding the death of Remo Stars Football Club player Kazeem Tiamiyu, and the crisis that it triggered, the Inspector General of Police (IG) Mohammed Adamu on Tuesday disbanded the Zonal Intervention Squad (ZIS).
ZIS is a special unit under the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone II that operates mostly around border communities of Lagos and Ogun states.
The unit’s demobilisation was announced by Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Peter Ogunyonwo who accompanied the state governor Dapo Abiodun to commiserate with the family of the deceased footballer.
Tiamiyu was killed on Saturday while the ZIS operatives who illegally arrested him were taking him to Abeokuta, the state capital.
Until his death, Tiamiyu, 25, was the Assistant Captain of his club and was loved by football fans in the state.
Hundreds of Sagamu residents on Monday flooded the streets to protest Tiamiyu’s death and alleged police harassment and extortion, an exercise in which five persons were feared killed.
Ogunyonwo said the IG ordered that the ZIS’ office in Ogun be taken over by the police command, adding that the team responsible be recommended for dismissal.
The DIG said the officers were on illegal duty and did not get clearance for the operation. He said that there would be more internal reforms in order to purge out unprofessional and “trigger-happy elements.”
Source: The Nation
