‘As I rushed to pick my daughter, bullet got me’

A woman has told how she managed to survive after a stray bullet hit her while police and some suspected hoodlums were engaged in a gun battle at the Adesan-Olu community, Mowe, Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun, on Friday.

The victim, Mrs. Risikat Taiwo, a trader recounted:  “I was inside my shop, attending to some customers when I suddenly saw people running helter-skelter. There was panic everywhere. I attempted to quickly lock my shop, while all my customers ran away. When I noticed that the men wielding guns were almost close, I panicked and ran into my shop for safety. Due to panic, I forgot my daughter who was playing outside. As I rushed out to pick her, a bullet hit me.”

Two people were killed and four injured on that fateful Friday when suspected land grabbers stormed Adesan-Olu community, Mowe, Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State and engage operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in a gun battle.

Members of the community said that the gunmen stormed the community to deal with another land speculator named as Makinde. When they reached him, he was in the company of SARS men.

Apparently determined to catch at all cost, the gunmen opened fire, unmindful of the SARS men. Before one could say, Jack Robison, all hell broke loose.

There was an intense gun battle. When the smoke from the guns cleared, two people had been killed, while four had been injured.

The hoodlums were said to have come from Ogunrun, a neighboring community with Adesan-Olu wielding guns and machetes, frantically searching for Makinde who ran to Adesan-Olu to seek refuge from them.

The land speculators invaded the community, shooting sporadically into the air, forcing many to take to their heels.

A resident said: “The gunmen found Makinde in the midst of SARS men. These policemen prevented them from attacking Makinde. The action of the policemen annoyed the hoodlums who engaged the policemen in a gun battled. It was during the gun battle that some innocent residents were killed by stray bullets. Some other people sustained gun injuries.”

Mr.  Kolawole Akinshola, another stray bullet victim said: “I was just coming from office when I found myself in the middle of the fracas. I dashed to a nearby building, unaware that I had been shot.  As I was running, I discovered that I was getting weak. It was then I noticed blood on my palm and chest. I blanked out. I learned that I was rushed to hospital by sympathisers.”

According to Mrs. Wailat Olatoye, another victim, she was relaxing in her shop after the Jumat service, when a stray bullet hit her.

The Baale of AdesanOlu Community, Chief Tajudeen Adesan-Olu, said: “I was inside my palace when some residents rushed in, saying that some hoodlums had invaded the community. I immediately headed to Mowe Police Station to report the incident. When I got to Transformer Junction, I met policemen in their patrol vehicle going to the scene of the incident; that was how we went back home, believing that they would restore peace into the community. Within hours, I started receiving phones calls that the place was tense.  Before I knew what was happening, they had brought four people who were shot to my palace. We want the Ogun State Police Command and the State Government to come to our rescue. These land grabbers are always attacking us!”