CSP Olayinka Egbeyemi: The Cat with Nine Lives

Dipo Kehinde/

At the age of eight, he was knocked down by a taxi in the Agege area of Lagos and was bedridden for five months. He survived.

Years after, he was swept away by the Ocean at Badagry Beach and brought back by the tidal waves moments after. Again, he survived.

Then, he escaped motor accidents in Lagos and in Ado-Ekiti when all passengers in the bus he had taken died after he was dropped off on a lonely road at Iyin-Ekiti because he had fracas with the driver who refunded his fare. Once again, he survived.

And then, he was on a mission as a police officer in Yobe State when insurgents blew up the Toyota Hilux patrol van of his team with explosives 15 minutes after he was dropped off along with his captain at Potiskum. The bomb shattered the patrol van that turned to ashes with the flesh of officers on board littering the road and nearby roofs. He survived, yet again.

Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Saheed Olayinka Egbeyemi is apparently the proverbial cat with nine lives.

***Left: The remnant of the bombed Hilux Van in which CSP Egbeyemi had escaped death by the whiskers, and right, the carcass of the Volkswagen car in which the explosive was planted.***

He revealed that he once contemplated suicide because he thought the end had come after losing his father and mother within 53 days interval.

But, things appear to be getting better these days as CSP Egbeyemi who is a year older today is serving the nation and making his mark as the Chairman, Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Task Force, after he had served in various capacities as Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Police Command, Divisional Police Officer (DPO), and Aide-de-Camp to former Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun among several other postings.