Tears compounded as wife dies after hearing the death of husband gruesomely murdered by Nigeria police

By Ehi Ekhator

There was a great sadness in Lagos Island on Saturday, March 29, 2014 as happiness was mixed with grieve.

A party organized to celebrate the birth of a new born baby at No. 168, Adeniji Adele Street turned bloody when some policemen came shooting sporadically.

Police Team

According to the information gathered, some policemen from Area A Lion Building allegedly shot sporadically into the crowd and the bullet hit an employee of the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) who was also an invitee in the occasion and  died on the spot.

The feast was held at the premises of a public vocational and skills acquisition centre. According to source, the policeman had earlier been served some food and drink, plus some certain amount of money when he visited the venue of the ceremony.

The source added that the policeman left and returned to the scene few minutes later, accusing some of the men of smoking marijuana otherwise known as Indian hemp. Effort to make them leave a man that was wrongly arrested failed and the police started shooting  sporadically to scare people away.

A bullet in the process, hit one Mr. Olundegun who had just returned from the hospital where his ailing wife was rushed to. He was said to have died immediately. His wife, Bolatito who couldn’t take the shock of the death of her husband died as soon as the news was broke to her.

According to an eyewitness ” Olundegun was hungry when he returned from hospital where his wife was rushed. He wanted to send someone to buy food from a vendor when he was told that the food being prepared to entertain guests at the party was ready. He was just about going to take the food when the police officers started shooting and was felled by their bullets.

“I was talking with someone at the party when the teargas canisters fired landed near my foot. The policemen later started shooting as if those at the party were criminals. The late Olundegun had not even eaten the food he was given when he was shot dead. His wife who was admitted to a hospital died from the shock of her husband’s death when she received the news.”

The community leader also disclosed that Olundegun was not the only victim of the policemen madness as one Saheed Dosunmu was shot in the arm during the incident.  He disclosed that the policemen hurriedly left the scene leaving their victims lifeless.

Gbade Lawal said:“One Saheed Dosunmu, who was seated quietly was also shot and he is battling excruciating pain on his arms. The anti-robbery team led by one Inspector Asubiaro hurriedly left the scene as soon as the implication of their action dawned on them.”

The residence later protested the gruesome killing of Olundegun, attacked a patrol team of policemen from the ADeniju ADele Division. The protesters set the police vehicle on fire before the mobile policemen quickly called for backup to contain the angry protesters.

He said “Angry residents took to the streets to protest the killing and ambushed men of the Adeniji Adele Police Division who were patrolling the area. They burnt their patrol van and the confrontation lasted many hours,” Lawal said.

“In order to cover up their misguided action, the policemen went to town with stories that they were attacked by hoodlums and that Olundegun was killed during the incident. They arrested the celebrant and other innocent residents mostly of Igbo extraction. The truth is that Olundegun was shot dead by an officer called Ola, aka Up Chelsea, who is now walking free.”

Not happy with the lies, a community leader, Prince Mukaila Akinsemonyin wrote a petition to the lagos State Attorney General and Commission for Justice asking for his intervention. The petition reads:

“It will be extremely hard for police to lie their way out of this…on March 29, 2014 about 10 pm, at FSP Centre, along Adeniji Adele Road, Lagos Island, there was a naming ceremony going on when a group of policemen from the Lion Building Area ‘A’ Command headquarters stormed the party on the excuses that they sighted someone smoking marijuana in the street.As a result of this, the celebrant, according to eyewitnesses, gave the police the sum of N5000, so that his party would not be disorganized. The policemen collected the money from the celebrant and left.

“A few minutes later, the same patrol team came back to the party and started shooting sporadically into the crowd as a result of which one Rasheed OIundegun was shot dead instantly, while one Saheed Dosunmu was also hit by bullets on his left hand. When the news of the death of Olundegun filtered to the hearing of his wife who was on admission in a hospital, the woman died. ‘’This is not the first time this so-called antirobbery team from the Area ‘A’ Command has been carrying out their nefarious activities in the area…the entire patrol team involved should be arrested and investigated and brought to justice. This is about ending impunity. ”

When contacted by newsmen, the Lagos police spokesperson, Ms Ngozi Braide could not be reached while text message sent to her was not replied. Her deputy, Mr. Damasus Ozoani refused to comment saying he was attending a training program outside Lagos, therefore he can’t speak on the issue.

 

 

Tears compounded as wife dies after hearing the death of husband gruesomely murdered by Nigeria police