BY UJU MBANUSI
LAGOS—
The Police in Festival town, Lagos, yesterday, arrested a mobile
policeman for indiscriminate shooting and killing of a barber, while
inflicting injuries on four others at Amuwo-Odofin area of Lagos.
When
Vanguard visited the scene of the incident, sympathizers were seen in groups discussing the incident.
An eye witness who spoke on terms of anonymity, said he was lucky to have escaped being killed by the policeman.
“I
had retired for the night when I heard gun shots outside. I hurried out
to know what was happening only to come face to face with an incident
that nearly got me killed. I saw one of the mobile policemen attached to
a house in Chief Sunny Ebere Close shooting all over the place and
staggering in the process. We all ran for cover.
“I and one Emeka who resides here ran to the gate of one of the buildings close to the gate of
the hotel, but before we could enter, the policeman fired another shot, which hit Emeka on the leg.
“I
fell down, pretending I was dead. That was actually what saved me,
because when the policeman got to where I was, he left me and went after
the other people. After he left, I got up and ran towards the estate
gate. Surprisingly, Emeka got up and ran too.
“In the process of
shooting indiscriminately, he went to a barber’s shop and asked Bright,
the barber, who was attending to a customer, to come out. Not
suspecting anything serious, Bright obeyed after which the policeman
shot him at close range.
“When the policeman saw that everyone was
running for safety, he fired shots sporadically, in the process a
pregnant woman called Ebere was hit on the hand by bullet.
“Another victim, Nonso, was hit on his right eye and yet another victim simply called Tayo was hit on his thigh.”
It
was gathered that when the policeman discovered the gravity of his
action, he escaped through the Golden Tulip Hotel but was later arrested
by the Festac Police.
Meantime, Bright’s corpse was deposited at
the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, Idi-Araba morgue, while
three of the injured are receiving treatment at the hospital and the
forth victim is being treated at a private hospital in Festac Town,
Lagos.