Things that make me ashamed to be a Nigerian.
hopefully the authorities responsible should please
address this.
Tragedy struck on Thursday at Ijegun Road in the
Alimosho area of Lagos State, after a woman, Idongesit
Ekpo, and her husband, Godwin, were shot by a team of
policemen attached to the Isheri Osun Police Division.
Idongesit died on the spot, while Godwin was said to be
gasping for breath at the Lagos State University
Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, where he was taken for
treatment.
It was gathered that the couple was returning from a
church programme on Wednesday in a tricycle
belonging to the family when the incident happened.
Punch reports that Godwin met a police checkpoint at
Obalagbe bus stop, where some other tricycle drivers
were being reportedly extorted by an eight-man police
team.
Godwin ignored the police after he was flagged down
and he sped past. One of the officers angrily broke his
windscreen with a baton.
A police corporal, identified as Aremu Musesiu, was
said to have opened fire on the tricycle.
It was learnt that the bullet pierced through the tricycle
back side and hit Idongesit, who was breast-feeding a
three-month-old baby.
Her husband, Godwin, who looked back when the shot
was fired, was said to have also been hit in the neck.
The policemen hurriedly took money from the tricycle
drivers they had earlier detained, before they vanished
from the scene.
The incident attracted the attention of tricycle drivers in
the community who trooped out on Thursday to protest
the death and demanded justice for the victims.
The protesters held placards, with inscriptions such as,
‘Isheri Police, your generation will suffer,’ ‘Stop killing
us,’ among others.
The Financial Secretary of the Committee for the
Defence of Human Rights, Lagos State branch,
Chinanzor Ifechiga, was brutalised and her telephone
seized by the Divisional Police Officer.
Ifechiga, who was accused of filming the protest and
taking pictures, was manhandled by eight policemen,
who struggled to take the phone from her on the order
of the DPO.
A tricycle driver, Henry Chibuzor, said the couple was
shot at around 10pm on Wednesday.
He said, “I was going home around 10pm when I saw
the eight-man team asking me to stop at a checkpoint.
I was there with four other tricycle drivers.
“The man was coming from church with his family. As
he got to the junction, he swerved and his tricycle
mistakenly brushed their patrol van.
“A policeman hit the tricycle’s windscreen with a baton
and damaged it. The second policeman fired a bullet
which hit the woman in the neck, came out from the
other side, and hit her husband too.”
He said the policemen collected N5,000 from him and
also extorted money from other tricycle drivers.
The Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, who
confirmed the incident, said Aremu had been arrested
and detained.
He added that the DPO of Isheri Osun had also been
issued a query for disobeying the Inspector General of
Police’s instruction.
He said, “The police are doing all in our capacity to
ensure that the deceased’s children are taken care of.
The police corporal involved has been taken into
custody. When we complete all necessary disciplinary
action, he will be charged to court for murder.
“The team leader and the DPO of Isheri Osun division
have also been issued queries for disobeying the IG
with regards to policemen performing duties out of
uniform, and without a properly-labelled police van.”
No comments:
Post a Comment