SUNDAY afternoon is a good time for leisure, especially if it is to play football.

For Ayodele Adedeji, a 24-year-old fresh graduate of Computer Engineering, July 13, 2008, was a particularly good day to join his friends in enjoying the beautiful game, especially since it was to be played in the neighbourhood, Lekki, Phase One, Lagos.

The sun was particularly bright and the mood right.

But some six policemen who arrived at the cosy neighbourhood, and for inexplicable reasons, started shooting into the sky.

Ayodeji and his playmates were only human. The rat-tat-tat of Police guns scared them. And they fled, anywhere and everywhere.

Police authorities yesterday said that the killers were unknown officers.

The victim's father, Prince Adelowo Adedeji said Ayodele ran into the Lagoon. The Policemen pursued him there and opened fire on the hapless boy. And he died.

According to Adedeji, who spoke with the Nigerian Compass yesterday, after receiving top police officers who came to sympathise with him, the policemen shot and killed Ayodele in cold blood after chasing him into the Lagoon.

He said: "All the children in this area go to that field to play football. On Sunday, at about 3.00 p.m., there were about 30 of them there. Some were playing and some were waiting for their turn to play. Suddenly, six mobile policemen arrived in a bus and they started shooting into the air

"Then the boys started running helter-skelter. If there had been electricity, at that time, many of them would have died, because they ran into a place with NEPA cables. My son followed those who dived into the Lagoon by the football field. He could not swim. The others, who jumped into the Lagoon managed to make it to the other side. But my son was shouting in the water: "Help me! Help me!"

"Rather than help him, the policemen rained bullets on the helpless and harmless boy. Now, the DPO (District Police Officer) at Maroko is saying that the policemen are unknown policemen."

Top officers who visited the bereaved family, on Prince Adelowo Adedeji Street, Lekki Phase one, included the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in charge of operations, Mr Adedayo Adeoye and Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Olusegun Efuntayo.

Prince Adedeji said the DIG saw the body of his son when he was fished out of the Lagoon yesterday.

"The boy was in his boots. He was wearing his shorts and T-Shirt. The dress showed that he was out playing football," he said.

Ayodele graduated from the University of Lagos (UNILAG). One of his colleagues, Desola Olabisi described him as someone who was fun to be with.

She said: "He was a very lively person; very friendly. There's no way you would be with him and you would not laugh. He was so full of life."

Prince Adedeji described his son this way: "He was not a drinker or smoker and he did not keep bad friends. He was a well known student at UNILAG."

He also recalled how some policemen from Maroko Police Station had gone back to the scene of the killing to threaten fishermen, who witnessed the murder.

Reacting to the killing, police spokesman, Frank Mba said: "The facts on the ground are very conflicting. I've spoken with the DPO and the Area Commander but we don't have a clear picture yet."

According to the family, Ayodele will be buried at the Ikoyi Cemetery by noon today.The Human Rights Watch last year quoted official statistics indicating that police had shot and killed more than 8,000 Nigerians since 2000. The figures show 785 killed in just three months last year, while noting that the true number of people killed by the police since 2000 might exceed 10,000.

On November 14, 2007, the then Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro announced that 785 suspected "armed robbers" were shot and killed in gunfire exchanges with the police between June and the beginning of September 2007. According to statistics, 1,628 armed robbers were arrested during the same period. Police personnel also killed one person for every two firearms they managed to recover.

"It's stunning that the police killed half as many 'armed robbery suspects' as they managed to arrest during Okiro's first 90 days," said Peter Takirambudde, Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

He added: "It's scandalous that leading police officials seem to regard the routine killing of Nigerian citizens – criminal suspects or not – as a point of pride."

They were actually Police men.

Ayo is a brilliant chap, we went to the same Primary school (Tunwase Nur/Pry School, Akinola Cole Crscent, Off Adeniyi jones Ikeja) He was in my sisters Class.

His Father a big bros to my Dad. Ayo is just the way he was described. Prince Adedeji is a Disciplinarian. Can you imajine the children of a rich man takes public transport just like any other?

Ohh Ayo Rest in Peace

see how handsome men r being killed. sad

It the police that did the killing.
and the reason can not be far, a little investigation may reveal that someone paid them to stop people from playing football on the land and they had to kill just to carry out a simple request

The irony of the matter is that we expect to police to investigate and prosecute themselves in cases like this, very annoying.
We need private investigators, I wonder when private investigators will be allowed in Nigeria

What kind of country is this?
Prince, just accept our condolence, it's a shame on the country that the people that are suppose to be our guide are now our enemy.
The good Lord will be with you sir, and ma prayer is that God will trouble those peolple and give them surrow in their heart