Hoodlums kill four while chasing policemen

 

Four persons were shot dead on Wednesday when some hoodlums went on rampage and shot indiscriminately along the Railway Line in Oyingbo, Lagos.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the hoodlums, who were said to be no fewer than 15, came into the area at about 9.30pm, shooting to scare away shop owners and pedestrians. They were said to have been led by a man, identified as John Ibafo, alias small rainbow.

Our correspondent gathered that the gang had earlier fomented trouble on old Apapa Road before storming the area by evening.

They reportedly fired shots into the air indiscriminately, while four persons were hit by stray bullets and died instantly.

When PUNCH Metro got to the area on Thursday, it was learnt that one of the deceased, Mr. Musa Garba, was a northerner who worked as a truck driver at the Kanuri Motor Park, Oyingbo.

Our correspondent, who saw Garba’s corpse in the park, observed that the bullet entered the left side of his neck. It was gathered that the police from the Iponri division, had earlier came to remove the corpses of other persons who were killed.

According to some eyewitnesses, the shootings started when the hoodlums, on arrival, sighted two policemen in the area. They subsequently gave them a chase.

The witnesses added that one of the officers escaped, while the other fled into the park, removed his uniform, and covered his gun with it. The policeman was said to have hidden among pedestrians in the park while the shootings lasted.

One of those who were injured by the bullets, Mr. Yekini Babatunde, told our correspondent that one of the deceased, Garba was replacing a deflated tyre of his truck when the bullet hit him.

He said, “We did not know that they were coming inside the park. They were in this area on Tuesday and wreak havoc. But yesterday night, it was the policeman, who ran into our park, that they came after when the bullet hit Garba in the neck.

“He bent down and was changing his truck’s deflated tyre. If I had been close to him, I would have been killed too. The bullets brushed my cheek bone and chest. I reported the matter at the Denton Police Division.”

Another driver in the park, who gave his name simply as Alhaji Isa, said if Garba’s corpse was taken to Kano where the late driver was travelling to, it could lead to a reprisal on other tribes. He urged the police to put an end to violence in the Oyingbo and Ebute Meta areas.

He said, “The cultists had shot two pedestrians dead by the rail line before pursuing one of the policemen into our park. It was while they wanted to get him that Garba was hit. We heard the policemen were from Denton and had been detained.

“The police know these hoodlums and their godfathers. Why has it become difficult for the hoodlums to be arrested? Innocent people are getting killed every time these boys go on rampage.”

On Thursday, our correspondent observed a police van stationed in front of the park, while four officers also patrolled the area.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, while confirming the incident, said three suspects had been arrested by the police. He, however, added that no policeman was being detained.

He said, “Two corpses were removed by our men, while three suspected cultists were also arrested. No policeman is being detained by Denton in connection with the case.”