GIFT ROBERT
The family of a young man, who was allegedly shot by the police, has filed a petition at the Lagos State judicial panel on restitution for SARS related abuse and other matters against the police in search of the corpse of their relative.
It was gathered that the young man identified as Lucky Ojukwu, was a member of a vigilance security group at Jakande Housing Estate, Ilasan, Lekki, Lagos and was said to have been shot by the police while on duty.
According to the CDA Chairman of Jakande Housing Estate, Mr. Suleman Olarewaju Kazim, who is also assisting the deceased’s family in search of their corpse said, “I remember vividly on the 20th of October 2020 at about 8pm; that was when the EndSARS protest was going on at Lekki toll gate. So, some hoodlums took advantage of the protest to enter our estate, snatching phones from the residents, breaking into shops and harassing people in the community. There was this Lucky Ojukwu, he was part of the vigilante security of the community. When we noticed that these hoodlums were coming into the estate, we had to call the security personnel in our community to take precautionary measures.
“They normally resume by 11 pm till 6am the next day, but because of the EndSARS protest and that very day was when the shooting started at Lekki toll gate, so I advise the security personnel to start working from 8pm to prevent the hoodlums from coming into the community. So, I was in my house when I received a call that same day that one police officer came to one of the security posts to drink in a beer parlour and was harassing people with a machete while the EndSARS protest was going on. So, I quickly ran to the scene; when I asked of the policeman, they said he has gone back to the police station. So, those guys, including Ojukwu, were part of the security team there at that time.
“I wanted to go to the police station that night, but because of the Lekki toll gate issue, I decided not to go. I only advised them to mount their own beat not to allow the hoodlums into the community. So, they were all there, including Ojukwu. Two hours later, someone called me that something terrible had happened, that Ojukwu had been shot by the police officers.
“I went there, but I didn’t see any body, and while going back to my house, I now saw Ojukwu’s colleagues and they said the police had taken him away, that the police were shooting in the air and stray bullet hit him in the abdomen and while they tried to rush him to the hospital, the police came and were seriously shooting; so they were scared and took cover to save their own lives.”
Speaking further, Suleman said that the youths of the community came out in their large numbers to burn down the police station at Ilasan, demanding the copse of Ojukwu. But he and other community leaders intervened and calmed the youth down from burning the station.
“Myself and other community leaders went to the police station, we met the DPO who is a woman, she told us to calm down, that everywhere is tensed as at that time; that the corpse had been taken to Ikeja mortuary, that I should tell the family of the victim that they will surely get the corpse of their relative, but not as at that moment. So, three weeks later, I went to the DPO again; she now told me that she can’t decide on the corpse, that it is the commissioner of police who can decide on the corpse. Since then, we have not been able to speak with the commissioner of police, I’m trying my best as a community leader to get the corpse from the police so that the family of the deceased can take their corpse for burial; that’s why I’m here today at the court.
Suleman said all efforts made to retrieve the corpse of late Lucky Ojukwu have proved abortive.
The matter has been adjourned to February 13, 2021 for further hearing