Matilda Omonaiye/
Police have explained the circumstances surrounding the death of a 16-year-boy, who was allegedly killed by the police, in Ijora-Badia area of Lagos.
The victim, Emmanuel Chukwu, was reportedly shot dead by policemen attached to the Ijora Police Station during a protest by youths in Ijora-Badia on March 11.
But the Lagos State Police Command said today it was true that it’s men fired live shots to protect themselves against armed miscreants that wanted to overrun the police station on the said day, but there was no evidence linking them with the victim’s death.
Spokesman for the command, SP Chike, said in a statement that policemen attached to Ijora police station only carried the victim to the hospital where he was confirmed dead after they found him with bullet wounds, shortly after the shooting incident.
The statement reads: “The attention of the Nigeria Police, Lagos State Command has been drawn to the news making the rounds in some sections of the media that a 16-year-old boy was shot and killed by policemen attached to Ijora Badia Division without justification. It was also stated that the police are denying knowledge of the circumstances that led to the death of the boy, who was later identified as Emmanuel Chukwu.
“At this point, it has become necessary to set the records straight and clear the air on the issue.
On the 11th of March, 2018, a distress call was received that a suspected kidnapper was about being lynched by a mob at Afolabi Street, Ijora-Badia. The police mobilised some patrol teams to rescue the woman under attack. On getting to the scene, the police team discovered that the woman had been stripped; she was helpless and at the verge of imminent death. The team braved the odds and rescued the woman from the jaws of death.
“The mob comprising of youths, area/cult boys and other miscreants, who were armed with dangerous weapons, stormed the police station and attempted to whisk away the woman who was already in police protective custody. They fired sporadically into the police station, throwing stones, petrol bombs and other missiles to overwhelm the police and forcefully take away the woman, whom they accused of kidnapping a yet-to-be-identified person and dispense jungle judgement on her. This was even when the accusation against her had not been established.
“Police resisted the attempt by the mob to raze down the police station to take the woman by force and cart away firearms and ammunition by using the tear gas. This had no effect on the surging youth brigands, who were hell bent on completing the lynching of the woman, burning down of the station and killing of policemen. At this point, the DPO and his men were constrained to use their firearms as a matter of last resort and in line with Force Order 237, seeing that the tear gas applied could not deter the hoodlums from carrying out their unlawful intents.
“In the ensuing melee, eight of the hoodlums were arrested while others escaped. One locally-made pistol with one unexpended/expended cartridges, cutlasses, 15 litres of Premium Motor Spirit, dagger, charms and weeds suspected to be Indian hemp were recovered from the suspects. Furthermore, during the mop up of the surrounding areas, one of the hoodlums, who wore a red shirt with an inscription “Emma bullet”, later identified as Emmanuel Chukwu (male) was found with gunshot injury, which he sustained during the fracas. He was rescued and rushed to the Mainland General Hospital, where he was confirmed dead. His corpse was thereafter deposited at the hospital’s morgue for preservation and autopsy.
“Sequel to the above, the Commissioner of Police has ordered the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department to carry out a full scale investigation into the matter and come up with a detailed report.”
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