A motorist, Arinze Daniel, has been killed by a policeman at Agip bus stop, opposite Ojo Barracks on the Lagos-Bagadry Expressway, Lagos State.
Our correspondent gathered that Daniel, a father of one, was returning from work at about 9pm last Monday, when he was stopped by a team of three policemen at a checkpoint, and asked to produce his identity card.
It was learnt that while Daniel put his hand inside his pocket to produce the card, the gun of one of the policemen accidentally discharged bullet, hitting the motorist who died on the spot.
The policemen, attached to the Federal Highway Patrol, fled from the checkpoint.
Our correspondent gathered that Daniel, who was said to be married to a soldier and staying in the Ojo Barracks and a friend, were returning from the Iyana Iba area about 9pm when they were stopped at the bus stop.
One of the policemen, who sat on a bench and had a bag of sachet water beside him, stopped Daniel’s vehicle and asked where he was heading for.
The yet-to-be-identified policeman was also said to have ordered Daniel to produce his ID card.
Daniel’s friend in the bus reportedly rushed to the Onireke Police Division to report the matter, but before policemen could get to the scene, the three policemen at the checkpoint had fled.
When our reporter visited Ojo Barracks, the security men at the entrance, who confirmed Daniel’s killing, refused our correspondent entry, saying they could not allow journalists into the barracks.
One of them said, “If he was a military officer, the authorities would have been liaising with the police headquarters by now. But since he was only married to a soldier, I cannot tell you what steps have been taken.
“He got married sometime in 2015, and he stayed in the barracks with his wife. They have a baby. It was around 9pm that the incident happened. He was driving home and he had already got to the bus stop opposite the barracks when the policemen stopped him. They asked where he was coming from, and I think an argument ensued and they killed him.”
When our correspondent got to Agip bus stop, a shop owner, identified only as Abubakar, said the policemen wanted to extort money from the motorist when the rifle discharged the bullet.
He said, “We know the policemen very well. They usually guard a petrol station under construction at the bus stop. Around 9pm on Monday, they stopped the man’s bus. The policeman, who stopped him, was trying to collect money from him. Seconds later, I just heard a gunshot.
“The other policemen shouted on the policeman, ‘You have killed him! Why did you fire?’ Immediately, they rushed into their van and zoomed off. They left their bench and the bag of sachet water at the scene.
“It was the man’s friend who ran to the police station to report. Since that day, the policemen have yet to return to the filling station.
“We also have been living in fear because it happened near our shops. The police can say they are investigating and storm here to arrest all of us. We are innocent. We know nothing about the man’s death.”
It was observed the benches, where the policemen reportedly sat while on duty.
A vulcaniser at the bus stop, who declined to mention his name, added that none of them knew the names of the policemen or where they came from.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, had yet to reply to a text message sent to her phone on the incident.
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