Painful exit of a gallant cop

• Police Intelligence Unit loses officer in gun duel with kidnappers 

The Intelligence Response Team (IRT) under the watch of an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Abba Kyari at the weekend, lost one of its gallant officers, Sergeant

Lanre Sanusi to the cold hands of death when dreaded kidnappers in Sapele, Delta State, attacked the team.Sergeant Lanre, it was learnt, was one of the leading ‘field detectives’ who tracked and demystified billionaire kidnapper, Chukwudumeme Onwuadike aka Evans.He was shot in the stomach last week Thursday while trailing some of the kidnappers who kidnapped four expatriates in Delta State.

According to sources, the IRT team based in Benin City was with one of the arrested kidnappers, who were taking them to a criminal hideout of his gang members in Sapele when the attack took place.

It was reliably gathered that immediately one of the kidnappers sighted the operatives and one of their own, he pulled his pistol and fired directly at their vehicle during which some bullets caught Sergeant Lanre in the stomach while another operative was shot in the hands.

Unperturbed by the surprised attack, both the late Sergeant and others chased after the kidnappers and killed the man that fired the killer shots. The shot policemen were promptly rushed to the nearby Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara where they underwent surgery.

The bullets lodged in their bodies were reportedly extracted with all the medical team on ground confirming that the injured Policemen were responding to treatment.

But tragedy struck the next morning after it was discovered that Sergeant Lanre who had opened his eyes and exchanged pleasantries with his colleagues, who came to wish them quick recovery, gave up the ghost.

The commander of IRT, ACP Kyari, is said to be in deep pain over Lanre’s death.A source close to his office that confirmed the tragic exit of Sergeant Lanre said arrangements were already being made for a befitting burial, adding, “It is really sad and painful altogether. We have not been able to tell his wife and other family members yet. This is the risk of the job we are talking about; we put our lives on line for others, yet when it is time for promotion, one thing or the other will happen and the list will be kept in view. Look at this now, Sergeant Lanre was one of the men that put his life on the line to arrest Evans and now he is dead. We don’t even know how to break the news to his wife and family. It is painful.”