Barely one week after a 35-year-old fashion designer, Hassan Taiwo, died after he was shot by a policeman in Lagos Island, another police officer attached to the Lion Building Division, Superintendent Raji, has allegedly shot a Lagos Island-based commercial tricyclist, Adisa Fatade.
The 37 -year -old transporter who plies Tinubu- Tom Jones axis was shot during a police raid on warring hoodlums around Martins/Evans Streets at about 12 p.m last Thursday.He was said to have visited his sister’s restaurant and was leaving when the officer shot.
Fatade was rushed to the hospital but was not treated until a police report was provided.
The Nation gathered the police afterwards stormed the hospital and handcuffed the victim on account of being a criminal.The police allgedly threatened his sister, Abimbola Tijani, who refuted the claim that Fatade was among the criminals. She said the officers accused her of conniving with a criminal in sheer defence of their indiscretions.
According to her, Fatade had just finished eating when the news of the fight came. She explained that many shop owners immediately locked up for fear that the police might arrive soon.
She was seeing Fatade off when the police arrived and began to shoot sporadically in the direction of those fleeing for their dear lives.
“It happened the second day after Hassan was shot. Some people were fighting in the area, and everyone wanted to close their stores and leave.
That was when the police arrived. People started running on sighting them and the police started shooting in our direction. By the time we stopped running, my brother was already bleeding profusely. We rushed him to the Lagos Island General Hospital, where they asked us to bring a police report. Before we knew it, the police came to meet us and asked about the person who was shot.
They asked us how it happened and I said he had just finished eating at my shop and I wanted to see him off, when he was shot. I don’t know the particular police officer that shot him but when we got to the station, one officer who identified himself as Raji said he fired three shots.He added that one of the bullets hit a man while the two other bullets did not hit anyone.
”That was how they asked me to shut up, that he is a criminal, but I insisted he is not. Raji then grabbed my neck and he almost slapped me while dragging me to their van. About four hours, they told me that my brother needed blood and that I should call anyone I could. I told them I was the only one around. ”My husband arrived and was angry. The policemen now accused me of supporting a rioter. They told me I would be surprised with where I will land myself.
Around 7 p.m, my husband went for a lawyer who said he would bail me. But before they could grant me bail, they asked me to pay for my brother’s treatment. Thereafter, they claimed they released me in order to stay with my brother. They gave me all the receipts with which they paid.Tijani said the police has vowed to charge Fatade to court after recovery. Contacted, the spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command, Dolapo Badmos, said the matter is currently being investigated. She said:
They gave me the analysis of the hospital bills and the pints of blood they bought,” said Tijani.
”The allegation of his being chained is a lie, and I know that would not have emerged from the family. ”The command is investigating the circumstances that led to the incident, be rest assured that if the policeman(Raji) is found wanting. he will be sanctioned.’’The Nation
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