The Centre for Human and Socio-Economic Rights (CHSR) yesterday led members of the Ajiran community of Lagos State in a protest to the Police Command Headquarters in Ikeja to draw the command’s attention to the ongoing case of the murder of two indigenes, Sheriff Ishola Salami and Prince Kazeem Ademola Akinloye.

Leading the protest, President of CHSR, Alex Omotehinse, said the rally was necessitated by the alleged attempts to distort facts and compromise the integrity of the prosecutorial and judicial processes in the matter.

The Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2, Olohundare Jimoh, had, on February 19, 2026, while he was CP of the Lagos State Police Command, declared the prime suspect, Ahmed Tajudeen Akanbi, wanted following the arrests and confessional statements of suspects linked to the killings.

The police investigations allegedly revealed detailed confessions, corroborative evidence, and a pattern of coordinated violent acts culminating in the tragic deaths of the victims in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

During the protest yesterday, the CHSR said it was concerned that any prejudicial intervention in a criminal matter, if left unchecked, risks undermining public confidence in the justice system, eroding the credibility of prosecutorial institutions, and inflicting further emotional distress on the bereaved families and the Ajiran community at large.

“We are particularly concerned that the demands for the release of legal advice, immediate bail, and independent review, though framed within legal language, may in the prevailing circumstances serve as instruments of pressure capable of derailing due process,” the body said.

“It is imperative to state that criminal prosecutions, especially in cases involving capital offences, must be allowed to proceed strictly based on evidence tested in an open court, and not be subjected to external influence or orchestrated public campaigns.”

The group called on the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Ministry of Justice, Lagos State, Lagos Commissioner of Police, Assistant Inspector-General of Police (Zone 2) and the Inspector-General of Police to ensure the integrity of prosecution, and guarantee that the DPP proceeds strictly in accordance with the law, guided by credible and admissible evidence, free from any undue external pressure or influence.

It also called for the safeguard of institutional independence, ensuring the independence and impartiality of the Ministry of Justice, the DPP and the judicial process in handling the matter, and to also resist undue interference.

According to the group, “this case represents a critical test of the credibility of the justice system under your watch. The public, particularly the grieving families and concerned citizens, expect that the institutions entrusted with the administration of justice in Lagos State will neither surrender to blackmail nor allow the cause of justice to be perverted under whatever guise.”