Family Of Man Allegedly Killed By Civil Defense Officer Demands Justice

Justice has been demanded by the family of a LAGBUS driver, Taofeek Abdulquadri, who was allegedly shot dead by an officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.

Report revealed that the officer allegedly shot Taofeek in the head at the Pipeline/Ile Epo area of Lagos State on Sunday.

According to Punch Metro, the 32 year old driver, who was returning from where he had gone to eat with his friend, was shot following an arguement with the NSCDC officer.

The death of the driver has been reported to have adverse effect on the members of his family as the medical conditions of the deceased’s parents had worsened, while his pregnant fiancée had found it difficult to sleep.

The victim’s brother, Sodiq Abdulquadri, who noted that the family had been thrown into mourning since the incident occurred, said the family wanted justice to be served on the gun-wielding officer.

He said, “I was inside the house when my friend called me that my brother had been killed at the Pipeline junction. On getting there, I saw him lying on the floor in a pool of his blood; I learnt he was shot twice in the head.

“Our parents are old; our mother is hypertensive and our father is diabetic; he (Taofeek) was the one taking care of them; but when they heard about the incident, their conditions worsened. My mother fainted when she heard of the incident.

“We have been trying to force my mother to sleep since the day of the incident, even the pregnant fiancée is not in a good condition now. We want justice to prevail; my brother’s killer must not go unpunished.”

The fiancée, Jumoke Bakare, who is three months pregnant, urged the police to investigate the matter thoroughly.

She said, “I still saw him on Saturday and I did not know that that would be the last time I would see him. I am devastated; I must see the person that killed my husband and he must not go scot-free, because I don’t know how I want to survive with the pregnancy. The police should help in bringing the culprit to book.”

Taofeek’s friend, Ibrahim Shittu, who was with him on the day of the incident, said the gun-wielding NSCDC officer threatened to also shoot him.

He stated, “My friend called me after 6pm that he was in a place where we used to buy cooked noodles and I went to meet. When I got there, I met him eating noodles and I joined him.

“Some minutes later, he saw a missed call on his phone from his girlfriend, and he said he wanted to get a call card so as to call his girlfriend back. He stood up and went to a bar behind to get the card, but the woman selling the card said she did not have.

“He passed through the military zone of the civil defence people and one of them challenged him as to why he would pass through the place and this led to an argument between them. At first, the officer was not with a rifle, but out of annoyance, he went into the office and brought out a gun and shot Taofeek.”

It was gathered that the matter was reported at the Ile-Epo Police Station but the case was later transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Chike Oti, who confirmed the incident, said the errant NSCDC officer had been arrested.

Oti stated, “The incident happened on Sunday around 10.30pm; a man was shot by a civil defence officer called Kehinde Osho; there was instant unrest but our officers were able to bring the situation under control and rescue the officer from being lynched.

“We evacuated all essentials from their office, including arms and ammunition, and we handed over the officer to the homicide section of the state CIID for further investigation.“