The families of a cobbler, Kabiru Azeez, and an apprentice in a tailoring shop, Femi Orojo, have been thrown into mourning after policemen attached to the Pedro Police Station shot them dead.
It was learnt that 30-year-old Kabiru was shot in front of his shop on Bolaji Omupo Street, while 20-year-old Orojo was killed on the same street while returning from where he went to buy food. The two victims were killed on Thursday, October 22, 2020, in the wake of the violence that trailed the #EndSARS protests.
Our correspondent gathered from witnesses that around 11am, some hoodlums from the Onipanu area mobilised in a vehicle and attempted to attack Pedro Police Station. The policemen were said to have repelled the boys, some of whom fled into Bolaji Omupo Street. The cops reportedly stood at the entrance into the street and opened fire on residents.
In the process, Kabiru and Femi were hit by bullets. Femi’s 15-year-old brother, who was with him on the day, told PUNCH Metro that they had gone to buy food. He stated, “As we were bringing the food back, policemen from Pedro turned us back from the road, and said we should take another place. They cordoned off the road.
“As we were going, we saw some boys, who wanted to attack the station. We also saw the policemen advancing towards them. We quickly ran into the street. The policemen also entered the street. They started shooting. A bullet hit my brother in the back as he ran, and it came out in the front.”
Photos of the bloodied corpse obtained by PUNCH Metro revealed a big hole in the victim’s neck, where the bullet came out from. The man who took the corpse to a mortuary, Arinze, lamented that the police never cared after killing the victim.
“It took more than one hour before we got to the place where the boy’s body was. We understood that some boys wanted to attack the station, but at the point the police started shooting, those hoodlums had left, because they saw that the police were heavily armed. But the policemen kept shooting until they killed the innocent boy. He fell into the gutter with the food flask in his hand,” he added.
Our correspondent learnt that Femi died exactly one year and six months after he came to Lagos from his hometown in Ekiti State to learn tailoring.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, promised to react after speaking with the division concerned. He had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.
PUNCH