One killed as soldiers, residents clash in Lagos

A yet-to-be-identified man was reportedly gunned down by soldiers in the Otto area of Lagos mainland following a clash with some yet-to-be-identified soldiers.

The soldiers were deployed to secure some Chinese workers carrying out maintenance construction along the railway tracks but some boys in the area had been at loggerheads with the construction workers.A source in the area said the boys, some of them called ‘Omo onile’, were always having issues with the construction workers.

The source said, “The Chinese workers have stopped using the police because they feel like the police could not handle the boys. So they brought soldiers.”

The Lagos State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, could not comment on the matter as he said the Railway Command was in charge of the area.

“It’s not under our jurisdiction but that of the Railway Command,” Hundeyin said.

Efforts to get the Railway Command proved abortive.

But a source in the police command who confirmed the incident expressed displeasure over the continued atrocities allegedly being committed by soldiers in Lagos.The police source said, “It happened around 1 pm in the Ebutte Meta/Otto area. It is becoming too much. We can’t continue like this. I also have my family in Lagos.

Will people just be dying in the hands of soldiers anyhow? It has to stop. Whenever they come out for that kind of mission, they don’t wear tags, so you can’t identify or trace them.

In the video of the incident obtained by our correspondent, two men out of the three men in military uniform were seen firing shots in the area which sent the residents into panic. A background voice was heard saying, “You can see. Officer you don kill person o. You don kill person o. See person o. They kill people o.”

In another video obtained, a dead man was seen lying in a pool of blood said to be that of the man allegedly shot by the soldiers, with some persons standing around him and wailing.

The spokesperson for the 81 Division of the Nigerian Army, Lt Col Ayeni, has not responded to calls and messages sent to his line.

PUNCH