Two dead, others injured in SARS officers, residents fracas

A pregnant woman in Ijegun, yesterday, died from a stray bullet fired by an official of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police.

The officer and three other colleagues were said to be chasing cybercriminals, also known as yahoo boys, when one of them mistakenly discharged a bullet, hitting the woman, simply identified as Busayo. The pregnant woman, a tailor, was in her shop when the bullet hit and killed her.

Immediately, angry youths in the community went after the SARS officials, killing one of them and injuring others. The officers were said to have continued shooting sporadically to scare the infuriated residents, exhausting their bullets in the process.

The officers were rounded up, but as some residents were taking them to the Oba’s palace, some others were hitting them with stones and metals, with one of the officers allegedly killed, while his colleague remained under the protective custody of the Oba with severe injuries.

He was rescued by the joint efforts of Mobile police officer and other security operatives who teargased angry youths to disperse them. This was after some armed SARs officials came around 3 p.m. to rescue their colleague, but were chased away. Also, several vehicles caught in the melee were damaged.When The Guardian visited Isheri-Oshun Police Station, it was discovered that the SARS officer had been moved to General Hospital Isolo.