LAGOS – Pandemonium broke out on Saturday evening, March 29, 2014 when members of the Oodua People’s Congress and policemen clashed at the Tolu Police Division, Ajegunle area.
The bloody clash left one member of the OPC, identified as Dauda Apampa, dead and a police corporal wounded.
The OPC had allegedly besieged the police station to effect the release of an unidentified man, whom the police had taken from their custody.
Punch reports:
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.
Pandemonium broke out, weekend, in the densely-populated Ajegunle area of Lagos State, after some members of Odua Peoples Congress, OPC, engaged policemen in Tolu Police Division in a gun duel over the release of a suspect.
A suspected member of OPC was shot dead in the process, a passer-by hit by a stray bullet, one policeman shot and several others sustained varying degrees of injuries in the incident which paralysed commer-cial activities in the area.
A police van was also burnt by the OPC members and part of the stationed torched. Their attempt to burn down the station, however, met with resistance from the policemen.
There were different accounts as to how trouble started.
How it started
A version said a teenage girl had a misunderstanding with her lover who was owing her N7,000. The 18-year old girl was said to have reported the matter to OPC members last Friday, who subsequently apprehended her boyfriend and allegedly tortured him in their hideout.
Another version had it that the man bought some goods worth N7,000 and refused to pay, threatening to beat up the teenager, who subsequently ran to the OPC for justice.
When news about the apprehension of the man reached policemen at Tolu Division, a team was reportedly drafted to the OPC’s hideout where the victim was rescued and brought to the station. The next day, OPC members reportedly stormed the station demanding for his immediate release.
Eyewitness account
An eyewitness, who gave his name as Famuyiwa Oladele, said: “Immediately the OPC people came, they started shaking the gate of the station, demanding that the man that was taken from their custody be returned.
“Before we knew what was happening, they started shooting and we all took to our heels.
“One Emeka, who was driving along the route, was hit by a stray bullet. They attempted to burn down the station when the police fired and killed one of them.
“Nobody could sleep in this area that day because the OPC members threatened to bring down the whole place. Many residents fled.”
Police story
When contacted, spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command, Ngozi Braide, confirmed the incident, saying report of the illegal arrest was received at the command’s control room from where policemen at Tolu Division were contacted.
She said that the policeman that fired the shot that killed the OPC member had been detained, and that the matter was being investigated to ascertain whether it was right to have fired the shot.
– See more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/03/one-killed-station-torched-lagos-police-opc-clash/#sthash.4BtM2Hvy.dpuf
