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