An upcoming artiste, Olasore Oluwafemi, has been shot by a
policeman in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State.
The incident, which happened on Sunday at Agric bus stop,
was said to have caused commotion as residents ran helter-skelter, while the
policeman along with two of his colleagues fled the scene.
It was learnt that the victim had an arrangement with
his friend, Opeyemi Efunwole, to meet at a filing station in the Agric area.
The two men had planned to move from the filing station to a
popular musical event, Headies Award, in Efunwole’s private car.
READ MORE AFTER THE CUT................................
Punch Metro learnt that Oluwafemi was in a commercial cab
heading towards the place when a police team in a commercial bus stopped the
driver.
Oluwafemi, who sat beside the driver, said, “I was told the
police usually collect N2, 000 from every cab driver at the junction. So when
he stopped our cab, the driver tried to reverse and he shot at the car. The
bullet pierced through the cab and hit my leg. I felt terrible pains.”
The cab driver was said to have driven him to the filing
station where Efunwole was waiting for him.
Efunwole, who was also the manager of the victim, said he
took him to a private hospital where he was given first aid.
“But we had to go to the police station for a police report
to get further treatment at a general hospital.
“However, on getting to the station, the Divisional Police
Officer denied that any of his men went out or shot at anybody. But later, on
compassionate ground, he gave us a medical form for my friend to get further
treatment.
“While the treatment was on at the hospital, I went back to
the station with Oluwafemi’s relatives and the cab driver to give our
statements about what happened. They said they were not sure it was a policeman
attached to the station that fired the shot.”
Efunwole told Punch Metro that the DPO, Abayomi Oni, ordered
the three policemen on duty at the time of the incident to file out with their
rifles.
He said immediately they came out, the cab driver identified
Zakari and said he was the one who fired the shot.
“But the DPO still called a sergeant to count their bullets.
The sergeant counted 20 bullets in the rifles of the first two policemen, and
when it came to Zakari’s turn, the bullets were 19. But the DPO defended him
and said it was 19 bullets they gave him.
“How can that be? How can they give him 19 bullets when they
gave others 20?
“When the cab driver still insisted that Zakari fired the
shot, the police threatened to lock him up in the cell and ordered him to shut
up,” he added.
The victim told our correspondent he had been asked to go
for an X-ray, adding that the result showed where the bullet was lodged in his
leg.
Punch Metro learnt on Monday that the bullet had yet to be
removed.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos
State Command, Kenneth Nwosu, said, “Initially, when they got to the station,
the victim said the policeman, who shot at him, was putting on mufti.
Meanwhile, policemen on the road don’t wear mufti.
“He was asked to identify the man who shot at him. A patrol
vehicle drove in and he said it was one of the policemen there that shot at
him. They were all in uniforms.
“The police pointed out he was contradicting himself.
Despite that, he was issued with a form to go for treatment for safety sake,
while the matter was being investigated to ascertain who allegedly shot at him.
“The case is still undergoing investigation and we will get
to the roots of the matter.”
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