New Telegraph

#EndSARS: Policeman, civilians killed in Lagos

  • Three stations burnt, looted

 

  • Sanwo-Olu imposes 24-hour curfew

 

L

agos metropolis was literally set on fire yesterday when thugs engaged #EndSARS protesters in a free-for-all.

This led to imposition of a 24-hour curfew on Lagos State by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

The hoodlums set Orile Police Station on fire and reportedly stabbed a policeman to death.

They also razed two other police stations.

At the Orile Police Station, the policeman jumped the fence to escape being caught in the inferno. He, however, landed in the hands of the hoodlums who stabbed him to death.

The fire, which started about 9.30a.m., was still raging as at the time of filling the report.

During the confrontation, some road users and traders were forced to scamper in different directions.

The police station, which was constructed in a United Nations model, was built by the administration of Governor Babatunde Fashola’s tenure in 2012.

Residents of the area said the station was set ablaze by a gang identified as “Adeleye Boys”.

The Adeleye Boys were said to be protesting alleged high handedness by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), CSP Folashade Daniel, and her boys.

Along with the protesters, the hoodlums were said to have invaded the station in large numbers, but were repelled by a few men and officers on duty and locked the gate.

As the protesters retreated, the DPO was said to have hurriedly left the station and abandoned her subordinates to their fate.

A witness said the gang immediately regrouped and started hauling stones and broken bottles at the policemen.

They procured fuel, wet the building and set it on fire.

As the fire raged, the hoodlums gathered empty bottles, filled them with petrol and threw them into the fire to escalate it.

The policemen trapped in the building fired several shots to disperse the protesters in order to escape but to no avail.

The arsonists had a field day, as they operated unchallenged by security operatives.

The hoodlums used the opportunity to loot people’s shops and vandalise some vehicles parked by the roadside.

The thugs entered the offices and the armoury and carted away everything which was left after the inferno had subsided.

The hoodlums wore unburnt accoutrements such as police uniforms, caps and berets and paraded like officers.

Some of them were seen with bullet magazines, while some held pistols, which might not be those of the police.

The thugs uprooted the communication mask installed on the police premises which they took away.

They also stole items which included burnt cabins, aluminium, window frames, barbwires among others.

The gangsters also went away with seized motorcycles, parts of police patrol vehicles and personal cars parked in the premises which were burnt.

The hoodlums, who were initially made up of the Adeleye Boys, were later joined by Zion, Whitesand and Railway Boys from Ijora Badia.

Some of the stolen items were taken to Whitesand behind the Bola Tinubu Trailer Park and National Theatre under bridge for sale.

The hoodlums and the protesters had blocked the road as early as 6a.m. in order to prevent entry into the vicinity of the station located by the Orile bus stop, along the Iganmu axis of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.

Hoodlums also attacked some protesters at Ketu area of the state, where two persons were reportedly killed.

The protesters were said to be going towards Ile-Ile bus stop when the hoodlums numbering about 20 came out and started attacking them.

A witness, who gave his name as Akeem, told our correspondent on the phone that the protesters were going on their own when the hoodlums came out from nowhere and started throwing bottles and using other dangerous weapons on them.

He said: “Suddenly everywhere became rowdy. Commercial drivers and private car owners made a sudden U-turn to avoid being hit by stray bullets.

“It was policemen from Ketu Police Station and the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) who came to the rescue of the protesters, if not, a lot of people would have died in the fracas.”

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Muyiwa Adejobi, said the Orile Police Station was torched about 10a.m.

Adejobi said some policemen were critically injured while one of them reportedly died.

He said: “It is crystal clear that the EndSARS protest has been hijacked by hoodlums who want to run down the state and the police command will resist such state of anarchy, unrest and brouhaha with all powers within the ambit of the law.”

The PPRO also confirmed the 24-hour curfew imposed on the state.

He added: “While the command is resolute in sustenance of human rights and democratic tenets, the general public is hereby warned to comply with the curfew and desist from any act of violence in the state as the command will resist such in totality.”

Meanwhile, the gangsters turned the protest to a looting spree, as they broke into several shops at Ijora area.

The hoodlums were sighted at Whitesand area of Ijora Badia with bags containing new clothes, female dresses such as underwears, bras and children’s wears.

Armed to the teeth with dangerous weapons, they were headed back to Badia area, through the railway line for the looting spree at press time.

Disturbed by the waves of violence and bloody clashes across the state, Sanwo-Olu announced the curfew.

This was even as the Judicial Panel of Inquiry and Restitution earlier sworn in by the governor has begun its public sitting.

It called on the victims of right abuses by the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) to come forward with petitions.

Also at Ikorodu axis, scores of lives were also lost as some factions of hoodlums also clashed, leaving dead victims in a pool of blood.

It was learnt that shortly after the declaration of the curfew, the Layeni Police Station located in Ifelodun Local Council Development Area was also set ablaze.

Also Pako Police Station which serves residents of communities in both Apapa-Iganmu and Ifelodun LCDAs was also set ablaze.

Justifying reasons for the curfew, Sanwo-Olu explained that the decision came against the backdrop of reports of violence in parts of the state.

The governor also cited the attack on some policemen attached to the RRS by a group of demonstrators at the Ebute-Meta axis on Monday.

He said the curfew took off at 4p.m. yesterday and it was indefinite.

Sanwo-Olu said only workers on essential services were exempted from the restrictive measure.

He said: “On Monday, some policemen attached to Rapid Response Squad (RRS) were attacked and injured by a group of demonstrators in Ebute-Meta.

“Also, people were killed and properties destroyed in the violence reported in Ikorodu, Orile Iganmu, Lagos Island and Ikeja as a result of protest.”

Announcing the curfew, the governor said he had watched with shock how the EndSARS protests started peacefully and slowly degenerated into a monster threatening the well-being of the residents.

Sanwo-Olu also said miscreants were hiding under the umbrella of the protests to unleash mayhem on Lagos.

According to him, some innocent citizens have lost their lives and limbs as criminals foment violence in the state.

He added: “I have watched, with shock, how what began as a peaceful #EndSARS protest has degenerated into a monster that is threatening the well-being of our society. Lives and limbs have been lost as criminals and miscreants are now hiding under the umbrella of these protests to unleash mayhem on our state.

“As a government that is alive to its responsibility and has shown a commitment to the movement #EndSARS, we will not watch and allow anarchy in our dear state. Therefore, I hereby impose a 24-hour curfew on all parts of the state as from 4p.m. today, October 20, 2020. Nobody, except essential service providers and first responders, must be found on the streets.”

The governor asked the security agencies to effect the restrictive order across the state, saying workers on emergency and essential services only should be allowed to move during the curfew period.

Others exempted from the curfew include all security agencies, medical workers, fire fighters, and journalists working with registered media organisations only.

Meanwhile, according to a statement signed by the Secretary of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry and Restitution, Mr. Babajide Boye, the sittings of the panel will hold in the open and as such, members of the public and the press are invited to be part of every sitting.

The statement also announced that victims of SARS-related abuses are encouraged to submit memoranda and appear before the panel.

According to the statement, the panel has six-months to complete its task.

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