Relatives of the truck driver allegedly shot dead in Lagos recently by men of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) are now calling for the release of the corpse of the deceased just as some aggrieved members of the public are calling for justice in respect of his killing.
.It was gathered that the truck driver identified simply as Quadri, 35, who hailed from Oyo State was hit by a stray bullet said to have been fired by a SARS operative on Thursday afternoon.
The bullet was reportedly targeted at some hoodlums who were said to be smoking Indian hemp at Berger bus stop, along the Oshodi – Apapa Expressway in Lagos.
The security agents, who were moving in a mini- bus painted in Lagos State commercial colour, reportedly stopped when they saw the men smoking marijuana in the area.
It was learnt that an argument ensued in an attempt to arrest them.
According to eyewitnesses, one of the policemen allegedly opened fire on one of the smokers and the stray bullet mistakenly hit the truck driver, Quadri in the head.
One of the eyewitnesses, who identified himself simply as Salisu, said: “I saw everything. Policemen came a bus and wanted to arrest people smoking Indian hemp along the expressway. The men refused to follow them.
“One of them just opened fire. The bullet hit the truck driver in the head. The wound is so large. If you fold your fingers and deep it inside, it will go inside his brain freely. People were angry and begun to protest. People did bonfire along the expressway, causing traffic gridlock.
“The police did not do the work they sent them to do. They just killed that driver for nothing. People wanted to burn their station. They didn’t care whether the policeman that shot the truck driver was attached to that division. They were throwing stones at Policemen. They even damaged their patrol vehicle. The protesters were also armed with cutlasses and iron rods among others. It was some area boys that later came to assist the police at Trinity police station.
“They were over 60 and were all armed with cutlasses. So they assisted the police in chasing the crowd away. The police doused the bonfire and removed the tyres from the road so that vehicles could pass. That was how normalcy was restored in the area”.
A man who identified himself simply as Ade was among the members of the deceased’s family that went to Trinity Police Station, demanding for his corpse.
Ade said the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the station, CSP Yomi Oni, politely told them that he had transferred the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Panti, Yaba, Lagos.
“The family wanted to remove the corpse and move it to Oyo State for burial but the DPO explained that he had transferred the case to Panti. He said there was nothing he could do. But the mother of Quadri said the corpse should be brought home without delay so that he would be buried according to Islamic rite. His mother said she did not want any case with the police.
“She took his death as the wish of God. The painful aspect is that the wife of the deceased is pregnant. Their only son just died. That was their only child. Imagine what his mother would be going through now.”
A police Inspector attached to Trinity Police Station who pleaded anonymity said some members of FSARS attached to Ajegunle Police Station came to our station to book their arrival. “They were supposed to monitor the expressway because of criminals who attack innocent victims where there is traffic gridlock. Their work is to protect people from armed robbers and other criminals who usually used the opportunity of traffic jam to rob. You can see how we inherited the problem they caused.”
Meanwhile, it was gathered that police operatives had already arrested two suspects over the case.
