The Lagos State Police Command has faulted claims by the outgoing GOC 81 Division, Major General Umar Musa, that one of its officers was shot during a recent clash between police and soldiers at the Trade Fair area of the state.
THEWILL reported that Inspector Monday Orukpe, attached to the Ojo Division of Lagos Police Command, had died from the torture he allegedly received from soldiers who attacked him and his colleagues on August 4.
Another inspector, Igbafe Ojo, who was reportedly tortured by the same soldiers, has been hospitalized at the military hospital in the Ojo Military Cantonment.
The officers were allegedly attacked by soldiers while controlling traffic on the Trade Fair section of the ever-busy Lagos-Badagry Expressway.
The soldiers, who were reportedly returning from a course, got infuriated when traffic on their lane was stopped to allow other road users easy passage.
Trouble had started when soldiers were on their way to attend a training program at the Ojo Military Cantonment when the bus transporting them encountered mild traffic around the Trade Fair area of the Lagos Badagry Expressway.
Giving details on the incident, the immediate past General Officer Commanding (GOC) 81 Division, Nigerian Army, Maj.-Gen. Umar Musa, said preliminary investigations revealed that the police officer shot at the soldier during the altercation, which clipped him in the ear, but narrowly missed his vital parts, adaeventsnews gathered.
Musa gave the clarification on Tuesday, while handing over to the new GOC, 81 Division, Maj.-Gen. Obinna Ajunwa, at the Division’s Headquarters on Victoria Island.
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He said; “The other soldiers reacted to the shot fired by the police officer and this led to them beating the policeman to death. We have paid a condolence visit to the Commissioner of Police to tell him that we will take necessary measures to prevent future occurrences of such nature.
“The injured soldier is in the hospital receiving treatment and investigation is ongoing to ascertain the next line of action to be taken.”
But in a swift response to the claim by Maj.-Gen. Umar Musa, Spokesperson of the Lagos Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, in a statement on Wednesday, said in as much as the Command was in a grieving mood and had decided to toe the line of civility, it would not accept misinformation.
Hundeyin said during the fracas, a police officer shot into the air and not at a soldier, adding that the Lagos Police Command was awaiting the report of the panel of inquiry set up by the Nigerian Army to investigate the immediate and remote cause of the incident.
“The attention of the Lagos State Police Command has been drawn to a report credited to Major General Umar Musa, outgoing GOC 81 Division, claiming that a police officer shot at the soldier during the altercation which clipped him in the ear but narrowly missed his vital parts”, the statement said.
“In as much as the Lagos State Police Command is in a grieving mood and has decided to toe the line of civility, it is pertinent to stand against misinformation.
“The fact remains that on Wednesday, August 3, 2022, at the Trade Fair area of Lagos State, about thirty Privates of the Nigerian Army attacked five policemen for stopping vehicles along their lane to pave way for a heavy-duty truck joining the expressway.
“After the soldiers had brutalised the ASP leading the team, taken out his magazine, and abducted two Inspectors with their rifles, the next Inspector they attempted to attack fired a single shot into the air – an act that made the soldiers retreat.
“The single shot was into the air. At no point was anyone hit. The Lagos State Police Command challenges the Army authorities to present the soldier allegedly shot. While we mourn our fallen hero and pray for the total recovery of the second abducted Inspector, we urge Nigerians to disregard the claim that a soldier was shot, as there is absolutely no truth to it.”
The Command said it eagerly awaits the report of the panel of inquiry set up by the Nigerian Army to investigate the immediate and remote cause of the incident.
“It also said it looks forward to the fishing out of the soldiers behind the torture and murder of Orukpe “and the return of two AK47 rifles and three magazines carted away by the soldiers.”
