… As irate youths vandalize police station
By Chioma Obinagwam
Luck ran out on Dada Omotoye on Sunday January 14, 2018 when one of the policemen of Ojodu Abiodun Police Station, Ogun State, fired three bullets on Dada Omotoye who was enjoying his leisure- playing football with his peers.
According to the account of eyewitnesses, Omotoye and his peers were playing football at Gbadamosi Street on that fateful day, when the police suddenly opened fire on them.
Omotoye, unfortunately sustained three bullet wounds in the course of the shooting- one on his head, the other on his shoulder region and the last one on his lower back.
One of the youths who narrowly escaped the bullets but pleaded anonymity said: “We were standing close to Gbadamosi busstop, people were playing ball there. Suddenly, the police came, along the line the police started shooting sporadic. Jerry by name. They didn’t ask us to do anything; we didn’t challenge them.”
Reacting further, the eyewitness added: “Everybody was like, how will you do something like this. They followed them to the police station. On the way to the police station, the guy fainted and it was very difficult for the hospital to start treating him, so, that was what resulted to the violence. They didn’t give us any police report to treat him. The police from Ojodu Grammar School gave us the police report instead.”
In the course of the investigation, Confiance News, paid a visit to the Ojodu Abiodun Police Station to ascertain the reason behind the shooting and the concomitant vandalization of the station.
At the station, policemen on duty were reluctant to divulge the cause of the matter to Confiance News but was referred to the Police Public Relations Officer(PPRO) at the head quarters in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Moreover, the PPRO, Abimbola Oyeyemi stated that the gun shots were fired to disperse certain hoodlums in the area but a casualty was recorded in the course of the shooting.
He said: ” What happened is that there is this place in Ojodu Abiodun called Yakoyo. There are some hoodlums who usually gathered there to smoke Indian Hemp and commit all sorts of atrocity and the people in that area have been complaining and sent all sorts of complaints to us. That is why the police from Ojodu Abiodun and divisions from area commands around the area went there to raid the place.”
“While raiding the place, the hoodlums in that place attacked the police with cutlasses, bottles and other dangerous weapons.The police, while firing into the air to scare them away, the bullet recrotchet and hit somebody. The person has been taken to the hospital and is responding to treatment,” he continued.
Mr. Oyeyemi, further disclosed that the vandalization was a reaction of the shooting but assured the public that the culprits will be brought to book.
His words: “But on the following day these hoodlums mobilised themselves about 200 of them and attacked the station and vandalized a lot of things at the station. But presently now we’ve arrested some suspects. We know those people. We’ve gotten information about those people who led them to attack the station. We’re investigating. We’re going after them and we will get them. They must be brought to book.”
Although the PPRO had mentioned that the rampage was born out of shootings on the hoodlums, further investigations by Confiance News show that most of the youths in the vicinity have been locked up in the police cell at one time or the other by policemen from the said station who usually accuse them of being Yahoo Boys'(a local slang meaning fraudsters).
Some of the people in the neighbourhood who agreed to speak under conditions of anonymity said that most of the youths have suffered extortions from policemen in the area for fear of being locked up at the station.
“One of my cousins came to see me one weekend. While returning to his house at Alagbole, the police stopped him under the bridge that is still under construction that leads Alagbole and asked him to hand over his bag to them. After searching his bag, they took him to Ojodu Abiodun Police station, collected his phone and bag and locked him up,” one the women residing in the neighborhood said.
“He managed to convince them to call me, which they did. I had to rush to the police station to bail him,” she added.
The incessant harassment of the youths in the area by policemen from the Ojodu Abiodun Police Station has become a recurring decimal and has been greatly condemned by inhabitants of the area.
Although Dada Omotoye is currently under medication at Tomade hospital located within the vicinity, attempts to get him to give an account of the incident proved abortive as he was either sedated or inaccessible by visitors.
Confiance News also gathered that some of his friends who went to visit him at the hospital were caught by the police and have been locked up at the head quarters as suspects.
More so, despite claims by the police of footing the medical bills of the their victim, the parents of the boy stated that they have been the ones involved in the medical expenses to ensure the prompt treatment of their son.
“The police promised to take care of the bills but what can we do. Should we allow our child to die while waiting for the police to treat him? We have to use our money to treat him to save his Life,” Mrs. Omotoye said in pidgin.
On his part, Mr. Omotoye said he really has nothing to say at the moment but that his major concern is for his son to be hale and hearty.
The issue of incessant harassments by law enforcement agents on the citizens as well as stray bullets hitting innocent citizens, cast a doubt on the actual role of the Nigeria Police Force(NPF) to the citizenry.
Are they really fulfilling their roles of protecting lives and property?
