Police Bullet Killed Lekki Free Trade Zone MD, Not Thugs - Okunraye Community Leaders Claim

 

The leaders of Okunraye Community in Ibeju Lekki area of Lagos State have refuted being culpable in the incident that led to the  murder of the Managing Director of Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ) Limited, Mr. Tajudeen Disu on October 12, 2015 while resolving a land dispute.

 

The leaders of the community, in an affidavit in support of fundamental human rights enforcement suit filed on Tuesday, October 20, before the Lagos High Court, Igbosere, disclosed that contrary to initial accusation, it was indeed the stray bullet from the mobile policemen that hit Disu from behind and killed him instantly.

 

One of the leaders, Alhaji Surajudeen Olalekan Salami, who deposed to an affidavit in support of the suit on behalf of others, recalled that the Lagos State Government, sometime in 2007, forcibly acquired their land from them.

 

He stated that on the day when Disu was killed, the leaders of the community were to meet with Dangote Group to discuss issues pertaining to the involvement of members of the community in the massive project that the company was erecting on their land, especially the provision of job opportunities for the youths in the community.

 

Salami said they had made several attempts to discuss with Dangote management but to no avail, and that the development forced the youths to barricade the entrance into the project site of Dangote in an attempt to compel the company to discuss with the community with the possibility of a lasting solution to the outstanding issue.

 

He said at about 9a.m., he was informed that a large group of mobile policemen had surrounded the entrance of the project and were burning down the barricade and other obstruction.

 

Salami, who described himself as a principal member of the Okunraye community, further recalled that the policemen stormed the community on the fateful day and started releasing tear-gas and shooting in the air.

 

He said at the time the shooting was on-going, the Divisional Police Office in charge of the area was at the palace of the Baale of Okunraye to discuss  how the issue could be resolved, and that the DPO had promised that the Dangote management would communicate with the community.

 

At that point, Salami said: “Some members then rushed to the Baale’s House to inform him of a mayhem on-going outside and how the policemen had burnt down the barricade.  The DPO left Baale’s House to go and confirm the report.

 

“When we were imploring Disu, Jegede and the Baale of Igiye Community to stop policemen from shooting because the members of the Okunraye Community did not want to fight and only wanted to discuss with Dangote management, the police refused to stop shooting and then a stray bullet hit Disu from behind and he died instantly,” Salami narrated.

 

He said the bullet also hit a young woman from the community and she sustained injury on the arm.

 

Salami, who said he saw the policeman that pulled the trigger that killed Disu, alleged that the policemen stop shooting when they realised that a stray bullet had killed Disu.

 

He added that himself and others left the scene immediately to take the injured woman to the hospital, and that by the time they came back, the remains of Disu had been removed from the scene.