A
six-year-old girl, Mariam Adeniji, is currently in shock after
witnessing the killing of her father, Rafiu Adeniji, who was allegedly
shot dead by policemen on Sunday.
The little girl, who spoke to PUNCH Metro
while trying to fight back tears, said her father was killed after
challenging policemen over an accident along the Mangoro end of
Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.
She said, “My daddy was driving home
when someone hit his car. He went to see the policemen; they just
brought out their guns and shot him. They then ran away.”
Another occupant of the vehicle, Lateef Okesola, who expressed shock at the incident, said it occurred in broad daylight.
He said, “Adeniji, Mariam and I, were
all in his Honda car; Adeniji was driving. We were headed towards Agege
when we saw a white police patrol vehicle with the inscription, OPS
Attack, chasing a commercial bus. So, Rafiu swerved to the side and
allowed the vehicle to pass.
“We continued on our journey but after a
while, we found ourselves behind the same bus. Suddenly, the driver of
the bus applied his brake.”
Unfortunately for Adeniji, he couldn’t
stop his car fast enough as his vehicle was said to have hit the bus
from behind, causing Okesola to sustain a bruise on his head. An
argument was said to have ensued between the bus driver and Adeniji
after the motorist demanded payment for the repair of the bus.
The deceased allegedly told the bus driver to blame the policemen for causing the accident.
“The policemen were parked on the side
of the road and when Rafiu approached them to discuss what had happened,
one of them alighted and shot him in the chest before fleeing.
“It was the sympathisers who gathered,
that flagged down another commercial bus to take us all to the Isokoko
Police Division,” Okesola added.
After obtaining a police report, Adeniji
was taken to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, where
he was confirmed dead.
Not long after his corpse was taken to
his family home at Oshodi, Adeniji was said to have been rushed to a
private hospital after a sympathiser claimed he saw the corpse move.
However, Adeniji was confirmed dead again at Jericho hospital.
When our correspondent visited Adeniji’s
mother’s home located on Samura Street, sympathisers were seen coming
in droves to condole with his aged mother said to be in her 70s.
PUNCH Metro gathered that Adeniji
was an employee of NAHCO. His colleagues, who came to sympathise with
the family, described him as a hardworking man.
Elder sister of the deceased, Titilayo
Akintunde, described the incident as a nightmare, saying there was a
need for the government to curb the excesses of policemen.
She said, “One wonders why it is those
that are paid to protect lives and property that “continue to add
sorrows to our lives in this country.
“My brother was not a thug. He was
gainfully employed at NAHCO. He had a wife and two children.
Unfortunately, his life was cut short in his prime.
“The case is even more pathetic because
he was killed in the presence of his six-year-old daughter and she has
refused to eat since the incident. It is a sight that she will never
“forget. We want justice for him. Imagine what our mother is going
through right now?”
When contacted on the telephone, the
Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Damasus Ozoani, said, “There
was a shooting in Agege area which led to loss of life. The patrol team
within that area has been arrested and their arms have been taken for
ballistic examination.”
PUNCH
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