Lagosians who witnessed the shooting of a pregnant woman and saw her passing out decided to take laws into their own hands in Lagos State on Friday August 9.
The angry mob pounced on the Policeman responsible for the fatal shooting at Agbole area of Ijegun in Egbe-Idimu Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of the state.
The pregnant woman simply identified as Biliki was hit by a stray bullet in her tailoring shop after the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) identified as Damilare Olarenwaju, recklessly opened fire while chasing a boy labeled a “yahoo boy” in the street.
Biliki was reportedly rushed to the hospital but died shortly after.
The death of Biliki sparked outrage in the neighbourhood, and ensuing angry mob to attack led to the death of one of the policemen while two others sustained injuries and ran to the Palace of the Ijegun monarch at Ologun for safety.
Lagos Police spokesperson DSP Bala Elkana, confirmed the death of the policeman while also disclosing that security operatives are in the area to restore peace and order.
Elkana said:
“I cannot tell you what really happened at the moment but it is true that we lost an ASP and two order ranks were injured. They are of the Anti-kidnapping unit attached to Area M.
“How can policemen fire shot at a roundabout, on a Saturday close to festive period in Ijegun?
“The road in front of the king’s palace is impassable at the moment. Vehicular movements have been diverted into a nearby street to access Ijegun bus stop.
“The information I gathered is that the policemen from Area M fired gunshots while chasing suspected criminal and the bullet killed a woman. Youths in the area killed him and injured his colleagues. One of them managed to crawl to the Oba’s palace,” a resident told The Nation.
“Reinforcement has been deployed to the area for the restoration of peace. Let us first calm the situation before we can talk of what happened,” he said.