INVESTIGATION BEGINS ON DEATH OF REAR ADMIRAL IKOLI

The Lagos State Police Command thursday said it had begun a holistic investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Rear Admiral Daniel Teikumo Ikoli, the erstwhile Fleet Commander at Western Naval Command.

Ikoli, a former member of the Presidential Committee on Audit of Defense Equipment Procurement (CADEP), was on Wednesday morning found in a pool of his own blood in his apartment at No 8B Roycroft Street, Apapa, Lagos.

Although the policemen from Area B Police Command, had first suspected assassination, they had later changed the report to a case of suicide after preliminary investigations, as was shown in their situation report to the command headquarters.

Nonetheless, the police investigation is supposed to entail conducting an autopsy to get the concrete cause of death- whether suicide or assassination, especially as there was no suicide note when the body was discovered.

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Olarinde Famous-Cole, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, said investigation was yet to be concluded.

He said: “The police is still investigating but I can’t speak for the navy. On our part though, our investigation will involve autopsy.

“Our investigation will be comprehensive and we will look at the last people he spoke to that morning and the last call he made and the context of the calls.

“It will also involve interviewing his neighbours and the person that was living with him at that point. Already he is in police custody and he is cooperating.”

Meanwhile, the news of Ikoli’s death has raised pertinent issues about ensuring periodic therapy for military personnel who are undergoing depression.

However, it was gathered that the cause of death would not affect the entitlements of the late rear admiral, which would be given to his family.

A naval source who spoke on anonymity said, “For now, his death has thrown up pertinent issues like what the service constitution says about deaths of such manner.

“Since there is nothing in our service book concerning cases like this, I am sure Rear Admiral Ikoli would be given his full rights as due his rank and his entitlements paid to his family.”