Abeeb Dauda, a 20-year-old tiler, has been killed by a policeman attached to the Amukoko Police Division in Lagos.
The killer, identified simply as Salako, was also said to have shot Abeeb’s wife, Lateefat, in the chest.
It was gathered that some policemen, including Salako, had raided Lasisi Street, Amukoko, in response to a distress call about a fight in the areas.
On arrival, the policemen ignited panic and confusion with sporadic gunshots.
Abeeb, a father of two, was said to have rushed to his wife’s shop on the street to assist in packing her wares into the store, when Salako surfaced, taking Abeeb for one of the troublemakers and shooting at him and his wife.
An eyewitness, identified as Adekunle, said the couple were rushed to two different hospitals, adding that the husband died a few hours later.
He said, “There was a street fight and the Amukoko Police Division was contacted. By the time the policemen came, the fight had stopped and those involved had fled. The policemen started shooting indiscriminately, which made everyone to panic. A woman (Lateefat), who has a provision store on the street, was in the shop when the shooting started.
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“Her husband (Abeeb) went there to assist her to pack her wares into the shop. Their two kids were also there. She strapped one of them on her back. As they wanted to leave the shop, one of the policemen called Salako shot at them and fled. The husband died on arrival at the hospital. The woman is responding to treatment. The bullet hit her in the chest. The man was a tiler and everybody knew him to be an easy-going person.”
Another eyewitness, Kehinde Ajibola, said that the residents protested the shooting at the police station, but were chased away. He added that Salako was notorious in the area for indiscriminate raids and urged the authorities to bring him to justice.
Ajibola stated, “This was not the first time that policemen would come here to harass innocent residents. They will not come when the thugs are fighting and Salako is usually part of the team.
“We protested at the police station because Abeeb was a decent person. He had his job and was very responsible. It was painful that he died for no just cause. The policeman must be fished out and brought to justice.”
Speaking on the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, CSP Chike Oti, said there was a fight between two rival cult groups from Lasisi and Whose streets during which members of the two factions shot at each other.
He, however, could not confirm a case of any fatality as a result of the incident.
Oti stated, “There was a cult war between two rival groups and policemen were called to restore order. The hoodlums were shooting at each other from a distance. The police tried to restore order by firing tear gas at the rampaging youths.
“We were able to restore normalcy and make some arrests. We did not receive any report that somebody was shot. Those hoodlums were shooting at each other. The person could be a victim of the crossfire.”