Two Dead, Others Injured As Police Officers Chasing 'Yahoo Boy' Ran Into Soldiers in FESTAC, Lagos

 

Soldiers, who had been stationed at 7th Avenue Festac, Lagos State, fighting pipeline vandals since Monday, yesterday, shot dead two civilians and injured two policemen. One of the soldiers was also injured in the shooting, according to the New Telegraph.

The shooting spree happened moments after the soldiers received a message to be at alert that robbers had attempted to rob Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), on 23th Avenue and that another set had attacked banks at Agbara, Ogun State.

The major victims were the policemen and the suspected fraudster being chased. It happened that the suspect who was cruising a Honda car took the barricaded high risk 7th Avenue road in FESTAC and the military men on ground flagged down both vehicles but they refused to stop. The soldiers feeling threatened, took them for criminals and heavily opened fire on them leading to loss of lives. The event took place at 10:30pm which further complicated issues due to darkness.

 

A police source said: “Surveillance men were on patrol. They sighted a Honda car. They thought the driver was a ‘yahooyahoo’ guy. The policemen were in a commercial bus as against the instruction of the Inspector General of Police (IG).

“The policemen flagged the Honda driver down, but he refused to heed. The policemen started chasing him, up to 7th Avenue where the joint team of soldiers and policemen were stationed.

"There was a barrier on the road to slow down vehicles. The Honda driver and the policemen in commercial bus refused to stop.”

 

It was further gathered that the Honda driver apparently drove towards the soldiers, thinking they would protect him from people in the commercial bus that were chasing him. When the Honda driver and commercial bus refused to stop, the soldiers opened fire.
 

The suspect died instantly and a bullet accidentally killed an innocent man eating noodles by the roadside.Two policemen were seriously injured. One was shot in the buttock and another on the knee. The soldiers so sprayed bullets that expended hundreds of ammunition littered the ground. Two police vehicles were shattered and perforated with bullets. One of the bullets bounced off a police van and hit one of the soldiers on the chest. The wounded were rushed to a nearby hospital, but rejected.

They were referred to Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba.