Matilda Omonaiye/
Zone ‘2’ Police Headquarters in Lagos was a place of joy on January 4, 2021, as some officers gathered to receive a token of appreciation from the authorities for the role they played and what they suffered during the EndSARS protests in October 2020, when officers across the country were maimed, killed, and their stations set ablaze by hoodlums.
The authorities had promised to reward officers who suffered during the bloody protests. That reward has come in form of promotions.
But some faces of deserving officers were missing among the smiling faces of beneficiaries seen at Zone ‘2’ on January 4.
Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Chuks Eburuaja Nwachukwu and his lieutenants were among the unsung heroes.
He went through hell as the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) at Elemoro Police Station, when thousands of hoodlums invaded and scorched his base and Area ‘J’ Headquarters at Elesekan on October 21, 2020.
Loaded in buses and trucks, the hoodlums, armed with dangerous weapons, jumped over barricades and launched missile attacks with stones, bottles, and firecrackers on the station.
Some of them reportedly fired gunshots as they made efforts to break through the locked gate.
Obeying the rules of engagement, Nwachukwu and his men tactically repelled the invaders with teargas and warning shots. They ensured there was no casualty as the hoodlums were pushed to the sides of the road leading to Otunla inward Ajah and Gbogije inward Epe with the aid of an armored personnel carrier that was marooned at the station due to several road blocks mounted by the hoodlums along Ibeju-Lekki Expressway.
The battle lasted all day.
As the smoke shells and ammunition were dwindling, Nwachukwu and his men retreated into the forest, after making distress calls to the authorities at the Lagos State police headquarters in Ikeja.
The hoodlums mobilized reinforcement from neighbouring communities, and the station was eventually subdued, vandalized and razed. Many policemen were injured, but no life was lost.
NewsmakersNG learnt that while trying to safeguard arms and ammunition, shrapnel pierced Nwachukwu’s foot.
Nwachukwu and his men were pushed into the forest where they stayed without food and water for three days before they were rescued by the Area J Commander, ACP Gbolahan Olugbemi, who was still licking his own wounds after a car crushed his leg, offices at his base were looted, glass windows shattered, and two generating sets vandalized.
He embarked on the mission with five patrol vehicles at about 4 pm on October 23.
Before then, there had been looting and vandalism of properties all around. Four patrol vehicles were burnt; suspected criminals were freed from the cell; the palace of the traditional ruler was set ablaze; four vehicles were also burnt down at the palace; shops around the station were looted; the Accord Omega Plaza in the area was also looted, and Ibeju-Lekki local government headquarters was vandalized and burnt.
Most of Nwachukwu’s men living in communities around the station were displaced till date following threats to their lives and those of their families. Still, they await the promised compensation for their valour and heroic actions.
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