There was anger on Monday night at Toll-Gate by
railway in Mushin area of Lagos, after a policeman shot and killed a mother of
two while trying to stop a fleeing suspected cyber fraudster, otherwise known
as Yahoo boy.
The
deceased, Mrs Kudirat Adebayo 52, was killed by a stray bullet which hit her on
the head as she was preparing to fry bean cakes, yam and plantain.
Adebayo was shot dead on around 7pm at toll gate
junction by railway. The killing bullet was fired by a policeman attached to
Olosan Police Station, called Prince.
Yesterday,
a commercial motorcyclist was shot on the leg after he and other residents
marched to the Olosan Police Station, protesting the murder of Adebayo. The
police fired canisters of tear gas at the protesters.
Prince was said to have stormed the railway area
with his colleagues to collect their share of the money from yahoo boys.
The yahoo boys were said to have declined the demand
of the policemen, insisting they had just recently settled another set of
policemen from the same station.
One of the yahoo boys was ordered to enter the
police van. Rather than enter, he bolted. The policemen ran after him. Prince
corked and fired his gun into the crowded area. The bullet hit Adebayo; she died instantly at
the spot.
Yesterday morning, residents, family and friends
were seen at the spot where her blood congealed. They were crying.
A resident, Mr. Tunde Bajemo said: “The mission of
policemen along that junction is to extort money from people. The young man,
whom they called Yahoo boy, resisted them and out of anger, they shot towards
his direction. The bullet killed Adebayo. We want to let the Lagos State Police
Command to understand that we do not want police again here! Last month, two
persons were killed on the same junction. The same policemen were there, but
they did nothing to intervene.”
According to Tunji, a cyclist, he and other people
who carried the woman’s body to Olosan Police Station, were blinded with police
tear gas.
His words: “They killed the woman and shot another person
on the leg. They fired canisters of tear gas at residents. We never attacked or
assaulted any of them. We have brought this matter to the Lagos State Police
Commissioner and Area Commander on the attitude of his policemen, yet nothing had
been done.”
One of the residents, a woman, described the
deceased as hardworking, adding: “She was using the bean cake business to
support her family. She has been doing this business for long. Her family feeds
from the bean cakes proceeds; children school fees are paid from the business.
Police have once again brought sorrow to an innocent family.”
When contacted, Lagos State Police Public Relations
Officer, Mr. Famous Cole said there was a mob attack on the policemen on ground
in the area, which triggered off chaos.
Famous-Cole noted that the policemen accused of the
killing were already in the custody.
He added: “Investigations are still ongoing to get
facts about the mob attack on policemen who were on ground at that time.”
An eyewitness, Saheed said that the policemen were
in the habit of chasing yahoo boys around for money.
Saheed said: The policemen just opened fire into the
crowd. They come every time. They used to come to that junction around 9am, 4pm
and 9pm to extort money from us. They tell us they must find their contribution
money.
“Even if you go to their station to secure bail, they
would tell you to go and bring N5, 000. Prince killed the woman, Charles,
another policeman shot the cyclist on the leg.’’
A resident in the area, identified as Alhaji Ojomo said
that policemen were in the habit of operating outside the area of jurisdiction
so to extort money from motorists and cyclists.
A former chairman of Odi-Olowo Council, Mr. Yemi Ali
has promised to wade into the matter to ensure justice was done. According to
him, he has sent a representative one Deacon Taiwo to calm the mood of the
aggrieved residents and family members of the deceased, Adebayo.
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