3 killed as police, Okada operators clash in Lagos

Although normalcy has returned to the area,
controversy has continued to trail the alleged killing of
three people at Iyana School Bus Stop, along LASU-
Iba Road, Lagos State on Friday.
Contrary to reports that commercial cyclists in the area
attacked a team of policemen from Isashi Division led
by the Station Officer (SO) and the Operations Officer,
investigations revealed that policemen from the
Division stormed the Okada park at Iyana School Bus
Stop, seizing commercial bikes, an action that was met
with heavy resistance from the cyclists who alleged
that the ban on Okada in Lagos State did not apply to
the area.
Trouble started when the officers allegedly started
shooting sporadically which sources said resulted in
the death of three persons.
A food vendor (Iya Bukola), who claimed to have
witnessed the incident, told Sunday Vanguard the
story: “We were all here when policemen came to the
park and started seizing bikes from the Okada riders.
When the Okada riders resisted, they started shooting
sporadically and they killed two people instantly while
several others escaped with gun shot wounds. When
the shooting started I ran out of my shop for fear of
being hit by stray bullet. It was while I was running
that I fell down and sustained this injury on my leg”,
she narrated.
Lamenting, Abimbola Aliu, a commercial cyclist, said,
“See how they have changed the story, they said we
attacked them. Is it possible for Okada riders to attack
the police? The law of restriction on certain routes by
the state government does not affect this place. So
when they said they were attacked by commercial bike
operators at a black spot, they should please show the
world where the black spot is at Iyana School Bus
Stop. We have been enduring all this intimidation and
it has become unbearable. One of the victims was at
the car wash when a bullet hit him”.
Confirming the report, Lagos State Deputy Police Public
Relations Officer (DPPRO), Mr Lelma Kolle, said police
men from Isashi Division were detailed to storm a
black spot after receiving series of complaints about
criminal activities of hoodlums and, on their way, some
Okada riders, who misconstrued the mission of the
police, started pelting the team with stones and the
police avoiding confrontation with the Okada riders,
retreated and ran back to the station
Kolle said the Okada riders pursued the police to the
station and attempted to burn down the station.
He said to prevent them from carrying out their
dastardly act, the police fired into the air to scare them
away but two of the Okada men were shot in the legs.
“As I am talking to you, the two injured persons are
responding to treatment in hospital”, he said.
He said that police preliminary investigation showed
that some hoodlums who cashed in on the situation
later engaged in a free for all and one of them was
stabbed to death.