A Father’s Ruined Legacy: A Son’s Decades-Long Fight for Justice
Sixteen years ago, Sergeant Samuel Ojo was dismissed from the Nigeria Police Force, his career and reputation shattered by an alleged murder charge. The incident, which his son Semasa Ojo recounts with painful clarity, has cast a long shadow over their family, leading to financial ruin, psychological trauma, and a desperate, ongoing quest for exoneration. Semasa Ojo, now 30, was just 13 when his father was arrested, and he has since dedicated himself to uncovering the truth and seeking justice for his father’s tarnished legacy.
The Incident That Changed Everything
The events of December 28, 2009, are etched in Semasa’s memory. It was a festive period, marked by the usual sounds of firecrackers, when a fellow police officer, Corporal Posu, was assaulted and injured by thugs in the Morogbo area of Badagry. The case was brought to Sergeant Ojo’s station, and he, along with four other officers, was dispatched to apprehend the perpetrators.
Upon arrival, the thugs scattered. However, Semasa recounts, his father heard a gunshot followed by a cry. A thug had fired at Sergeant Ojo, but the bullet missed and struck a civilian behind him. As Sergeant Ojo turned, the thug attempted to fire again, prompting Ojo to respond with his own rifle.
“They were there to arrest the thugs in the morning, so the other four policemen chased some of the thugs towards Ibiye town,” Semasa explains. “But my dad manned their vehicle at the bus stop. The thugs had already scattered, but one of them came back and aimed at my dad. That was why my dad had to respond with a shot from his rifle.”
The other officers, hearing the shot, returned to the van and drove back to the station. The injured civilian was taken for treatment, while the thug involved in the altercation later died.
The Descent into Suspicion and Dismissal
Following the incident, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) reportedly filed a murder case against Sergeant Ojo and sent him to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) at Panti, Yaba. Semasa vividly recalls the process that followed.
“When he got there, the civilian who was shot was invited for interrogation,” he states. “He went there and told them that indeed the thugs shot, and the bullet hit him in the leg, and that the thug was trying to fire again when my dad responded. The bullet removed from the leg showed that it was from the thug and not from the police, and that was confirmed then.”
The injured policeman also corroborated the account, detailing how the thugs had attacked him earlier that day. Despite this testimony and the evidence regarding the bullet, the case was transferred to the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) at Alausa for legal advice. In the interim, Sergeant Ojo was suspended from duty, his salary was stopped, and the case stagnated.
A Lingering Shadow and a Search for Answers
Sergeant Ojo was released from Panti in June 2010, six months and one day after his arrest, but was explicitly told not to return to duty. The family had to secure his bail, costing them over N200,000, a significant sum at the time. Though innocent, they bore this financial burden.
“My father kept reaching out to the lawyer from time to time until he lost his phone and the SIM card that contained the lawyer’s contact,” Semasa recounts. “That was how he couldn’t reach the lawyer again, and the whole case became silent.”
Driven by a persistent feeling that his father had been wronged, Semasa embarked on his own investigation in 2019. He visited Panti and the DPP with his mother, eventually gaining access to official documents through a contact. The findings were perplexing.
“They checked everything thoroughly and didn’t find any murder case with my dad’s name on it,” he reveals. “The only case they found with Samuel Ojo’s name was an armed robbery case with other unknown people. He was accused of a murder case at the station, but the file we saw at the DPP was an armed robbery case.”
This discrepancy fueled the family’s suspicion that Sergeant Ojo had been deliberately framed. Semasa believes his father’s prior service record, including a potential transfer to the police provost (an internal affairs unit), may have made him a target.
The Devastating Impact on the Family
The dismissal and the ensuing legal limbo had a profound effect on Sergeant Ojo’s life and the family’s well-being.
“My dad was a very hardworking man,” Semasa says. “When the incident happened, and he returned home, he became scared of life. It was later, when we grew older, that we realised he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and became afraid of many things.”
As the primary breadwinner, his sudden loss of income forced his mother to take up fish selling, while Semasa and his brother engaged in petty trading and labouring to support the family. Sergeant Ojo, once an active farmer and painter, became increasingly withdrawn and fearful, struggling to engage in any work.
A Father’s Decline and a Son’s Vigil
The psychological toll eventually manifested as dementia in 2021. Semasa recounts the heartbreaking reality of his father’s decline: “He couldn’t eat or use the toilet by himself. He couldn’t do anything and couldn’t recognise family members. I stayed with him for over three years, taking care of him.”
Despite intermittent improvements, the family’s financial constraints prevented him from receiving consistent medication, and his health deteriorated. Sergeant Ojo passed away on July 27, 2023, at the age of 69, having never seen his name cleared.
The Ongoing Pursuit of Justice
In the years since his father’s dismissal, Semasa has persistently sought to have the case reopened and his father’s name cleared.
- 2020 & 2021: The family wrote to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, who advised them to contact the Inspector-General of Police in Abuja.
- Multiple Letters to IGP: Two letters were sent to the Inspector-General, but no response was received.
- 2023: A letter to the Police Service Commission in Abuja yielded a promise of action, but no concrete steps were taken.
- 2023-2025: Semasa engaged with former Force PRO Muyiwa Adejobi and Benjamin Hundeyin of the police. While Hundeyin was sympathetic and promised to help, citing potential errors within the force and advising further communication with the Police Service Commission, the process proved frustratingly slow. He was informed of a dissolved board and then a missing file that was eventually found.
“Towards the end of 2024 he told me the board had been constituted and that there was hope,” Semasa says. “I kept following up… I reached out to him in March 2025, and he told me that my dad’s file was missing, and that they found it when he pressured them. He told me there was hope. Sadly, my dad died in July.”
What Justice Entails
For Semasa and his family, justice is not merely an abstract concept. It means:
- Revisiting the case: A thorough and impartial reinvestigation of Sergeant Samuel Ojo’s dismissal.
- Financial redress: Payment of all his father’s due entitlements, including gratuity, unpaid salaries, and retirement benefits.
- Compensation and damages: Acknowledgment and compensation for the immense suffering and hardship endured by Sergeant Ojo and his family due to the wrongful dismissal and its consequences.
Semasa, who recently completed his NYSC and is currently unemployed, hopes that stakeholders and key institutions will finally heed their plea, reopen his father’s case, and conduct a proper investigation to restore Sergeant Samuel Ojo’s honour.
