Tragedy struck on Monday on Ishawo Road,
Ikorodu, Lagos State, after some Ijaw youths,
suspected to be pipeline vandals, opened fire on
policemen in the area, killing four.
We learnt that while three of the deceased were
attached to the Owutu Police Division, one was
from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
Residents said the Ijaw youths took away the corpses of three of their victims.
Our correspondent observed during a visit to the
area that there was apprehension in the community,
while there were still bloodstains at the scene of the
shooting.
A resident, who asked not to be named, said he
started hearing gunshots on Sunday.
He told our correspondent petrol was generally
referred to as ‘water’, or ‘pure water’.
He said, “We started hearing gunshots in the evening of Sunday. But it was between 3am and 4am on Monday that the gunshots intensified.
“We did not know what transpired between the ‘pure
water’ sellers and the police, who have a patrol team
by the roadside, until we woke up to see blood and
later learnt that some policemen had been killed.”
Another member of the community explained that
the killing was due to a disagreement between the
policemen and the suspected vandals.
He said the vandals had paid the policemen some
money after they intercepted four tankers of fuel in
the community, but the SARS officers later came to
make a separate demand.
“After the policemen from Owutu had been settled,
SARS operatives came and said they had not been
given their own share.
“The vandals asked them to meet their colleagues
who had already been paid. They told the SARS men
that they were not making much money from the
business and that their demand was excessive.
“The SARS officers became angry and seized the
tankers.”
We learnt from a police source that the vandals left
the trucks and returned to their commander in the
creek.
The source said the commander, one OC, was the
one coordinating the vandals in the creek.
The source said, “After SARS officials took over their
trucks, they threatened to take them to their station if their demands were not met. The vandals went to
mobilise themselves and returned with their boss,
OC.
“OC then ordered them to open fire on the policemen and that was how three of them died.”
The source identified the deceased cops attached to
the Owutu division as Inspector Yerima and Corporal Adakuro, adding that one Sergeant Endurance was rescued from the scene and taken to the Ikorodu General Hospital, from where he was referred to the Lagos Island General Hospital.
He said the station immediately received a call from
two other officers, who escaped unhurt, warning of
the possibility of an attack on the station.
A source told us that one of the slain cops, Adakuro,
was of Ijaw descent, and knew many of the vandals.
It was learnt that the police corporal had called the
bluff of the vandals, which aggravated the matter.
His handset, which had the phone numbers of the
vandals, was said to have been taken away after the
incident.
It was gathered that the Divisional Police Officer of
the Owutu station had reported the case at the
command headquarters.
The two policemen, who escaped unhurt, were also
asked to report at the command.
A senior police source said, “The DPO reported to the
CP this morning (Monday). The community has
always been peaceful, but the SARS men came to
cause trouble. And now, some of our men are
unaccounted for.”
The General Secretary of Igbo-Olomu Central
Working Committee, Obatungashe Adebayo, blamed
the government for the rising insecurity in the
community.
Adebayo, who stated that 60 litres of petrol was being sold for N2,500 and 30litres for N1,500 in the
community, said the government had refused to
address the problem of the Ijaw militants in the area.
He said, “The question is how did they manage to get this sophisticated weapons? We don’t have peace in this community, because at times, we could just be hearing continuous gunshots, as if we are in a war zone. Successive governments have ignored our
cries.”
www.naijagists.com/ijaw-militants-pipeline-vandals-kill-4-lagos-policemen-in-ikorodu-lagos-escape-with-corpses/

V

Oh my...

DahtzFestjayz:
V

For Volunteer

HalfBaked:

For Volunteer

Nope! For V-boot