policemen clashed at the Tolu Police Division,
Ajegunle, Lagos State on Saturday evening.
One member of the OPC, identified as Dauda
Apampa, lost his life, while a police corporal,
identified simply as Emeka, sustained gunshot
in the incident.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the fracas was
caused by a disagreement over the release of
an unidentified man from OPC's custody.
It was learnt that prior to the fracas, the man
at the centre of the disagreement had been
arrested by OPC men on Friday for allegedly
raping an 18-year-old girl.
The OPC Lagos State Governor, Wasiu Afolabi,
told our correspondent on the telephone that
after his men had arrested the alleged rapist,
policemen forcefully released him from their
custody.
He said, "A young lady, who sells amala,
reported that she was raped by one guy and
we arrested him. The guy's mother ran down
to the police station and policemen came
shooting and released the guy from our
custody.
"The following day, which was Saturday, three
OPC men went to have a discussion with
policemen at the station in a bid to settle the
misunderstanding, but in the process, things
went out of hand and Apampa was shot and
killed.
"After the killing, I had a chat with the
policemen at the station and they claimed
that my men were the first to attack and that
they (police) shot in self-defence. They said a
corporal was also shot in the fracas.
"But when I went to the hospital to see the
so-called officer, I discovered that the police
were only trying to cover up their crime
because the policeman in question only had a
minor injury."
The OPC boss urged the government to look
into the excesses of policemen, especially
those attached to Tolu Police Station, as they
had become notorious for such.
"I have told my boys not to retaliate. OPC
men are gallant and if they decide to
retaliate, there will be too much blood," he
said.
A police source at the station, however, said
they went to effect the release of the alleged
rapist because they learnt that OPC men were
torturing him.
The source said they were trying to avoid a
repeat of the Ejigbo torture which led to the
death of a woman last year.
He said, "The case was not rape. An 18-year-
old mother and a man had sex on the promise
that the man would pay her N7, 000. After
sex, the man refused to pay. Two days later,
the lady approached the guy and told him to
pay up, but the guy beat her up and chased
her away.
"The lady then reported the matter to OPC
men and they marched down to arrest the
man. They took the man to a location and
tortured him for many hours. When
policemen got wind of the situation, they
stormed the place on Friday and rescued the
man.
"The man was then taken to the station where
he was given necessary documents to take to a
nearby hospital for treatment, while the 18-
year-old lady came to the station to write a
statement."
The police source stated that a day after the
man was rescued, the disgruntled OPC men,
wielding guns and charms, stormed the
station and threatened to burn it down.
The police source said, "They came to our
station and started shooting. They said the
police had no right to seize a suspect from
their custody.
"The OPC guys were feeling invincible because
they had put on charms for metaphysical
protection and they started shooting. They
shot a corporal, Emeka, and when we saw that
we had no choice, we fired back.
"In the process, one of the OPC boys was also
shot. He died, but his corpse has been taken
away by his colleagues."
Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide,
who confirmed the incident to our
correspondent on the telephone, said
investigations into the shooting had
commenced.
Braide said the policeman, who fired the
killer shot, had been arrested to allow for
objective investigation.
She said, "The policemen said they were under
attack and shot in self-defence. However, the
policeman who fired the killer shot has been
arrested. Also, the corporal, who was shot by
the OPC men is recuperating at a hospital.
"Normalcy has since returned to the area and
security has been beefed up to prevent a
recurrence at the station."
Meanwhile, our correspondent learnt that the
slain 45-year-old OPC man had been buried.
No comments:
Post a Comment