Banky W writes Buhari: Young man killed by SARS was the only son of a widow

Bankole Wellington, Nigerian music star better known as Banky W, has written an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari on the death of Kayode Johnson.

Men of the anti-cultism unit of the Lagos state police command had shot Johnson dead in the Mangoro/Onipetesi area of Lagos on Sunday evening.

He was killed after leaving a football viewing center where he watched English Premier League match between Liverpool and Tottenham.

In an open letter on Monday, Banky W said the deceased was the only son of his mother, who is a widow.

The musician called on the government to act and make sure that those behind the incident do not go unpunished.

Below is the letter:

Dear Sirs, Kolade Johnson, an innocent young citizen of Nigeria is dead. He was the only son of a widow, a husband and father,” he wrote.

His only crime was being in the right place at the wrong time… watching a football match when SARS operatives who allegedly came to arrest someone, started shooting sporadically.

Kolade is not the first innocent victim of reckless behaviour by SARS operatives, and he will almost certainly not be the last. It is sickening, frustrating, and unfair. We are tired of hearing about victims of police brutality, but never hearing about the criminal, reckless police officers being brought to justice. We are tired of screaming and tweeting #ENDSARS while our innocent young people are being extorted, bullied, maimed and killed by the very same officers who are meant to protect them. And we are tired of our leaders remaining silent, incident after incident.

We’re going to track down Kolade’s family, pray with them and raise money to assist them through this terrible tragedy. We hope that our leaders will use this opportunity to ACTUALLY show that they care about our lives and wellbeing, by tracking down the reckless officers responsible for this murder and bringing them to justice for their vicious crime.

We will not let this go. Kolade was innocent and did not deserve to die. Kolade could have been anyone of us. Please show us that you care about us. Please.

The killing had sparked outrage in the area as angry youth lit bonfires on both lanes of the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway, leaving many road users stranded for hours.

Social media users are still tweeting about the incident, calling on the authorities to act.