One feared dead as police foil attempt to set station ablaze

Police in Lagos State on Monday foiled an attempt to set ablaze the Oke-Odo Police Station in Ile-Epo area after a commercial motorcyclist was allegedly killed in the area.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that some irate youths and commercial motorcyclists had mobilised to attack the station before policemen from the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) and the Taskforce Unit were mobilised to the area.

They set fire on car tyres to protest the alleged killing adding that they had had enough of the policemen.

A commercial motorcyclist, who simply gave his name as Musa, accused the police of conniving with a truck driver who killed a motorcyclist.

“We thought the police would arrest the man but the next thing we heard was that he had been released. This is sad, we are tired of the policemen here,” he told NAN.

Mr Chukwuemeka Okafor, a trader, said that policemen attached to Oke-Odo Police Division allegedly killed a man which resulted in the crisis.

“Policemen killed someone yesterday, Sunday, May 23. This made the people around get angry and decided to take their grievances to the Oke-Odo Police Station.

“Some of the protesters tried burning the police station before more policemen arrived to save the situation,” he said.

However, Mr Adedamola Adeola, a resident of the area, said that it was a moving truck that killed a commercial motorcyclist after which other motorcyclists held the truck driver hostage.

“The police allegedly came and released the truck driver. This angered the motorcyclists and they moved to the police station with the intention of burning it down,” he said.

The spokesman of the Police Command in Lagos State, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the incident.

He said that normalcy had been restored to the area adding that no police station was burnt.

He said, “Disregard the fake news. Policemen are now at lle Epo Area of the state to restore normalcy and maintain peace.

“The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, CP Hakeem Odumosu, has ordered a thorough investigation into the incident.

“The command wishes to debunk the rumour that lle Epo Police Station was set ablaze by some hoodlums. This news is false and should be disregarded.

“The command will give details of the incident to the public as soon as possible,” he said.