Badagry clash: Only survivor dies

The tension at the Lagos State Police Command has been heightened following reports that one of the police officers who was attacked by persons suspected to be soldiers from the 242 Recce Battalion Barracks, Ibereko, Badagry, on Tuesday, is dead.


The officer, identified as Afolabi Taofeek, 44, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), died early morning on Thursday in an undisclosed hospital. He was in the company of the Divisional Police Officer, Salisu Samuel, and the Divisional Crime Officer, Samson Okedusi, and other officers on a peace meeting to the officer commanding the 242 Recce Battalion Barracks when they were allegedly accosted by soldiers at the gate of the barracks and shot dead.
The soldiers allegedly attacked every police officer on sight, and more than twelve policemen are lying critically ill in different hospital in the state. An Inspector, Moses Laguda, attached to the Aguda Police Station, was also reportedly attacked by soldiers on Tuesday on his way home at Badagry and is lying critically ill in an undisclosed hospital.
The police officers are being targeted by people suspected to be soldiers in retaliatory attacks on the Badagry Expressway following last Sunday’s alleged killing of a soldier by police officers at a check point in the area.
Samuel and Okedusi were visiting the army authorities to broker peace following reports that policemen were been kidnapped and tortured by army officers from the barracks.
How it all started
The  unnamed solider was said to be accompanying a lorry load of goods from the Seme border when the police team, who had mounted a check point on the Lagos- Abeokuta Expressway, near the Ibereko round about  stopped the lorry and asked that the goods be properly investigated.
“The lorry was overloaded and it was asked to stop for checks, but a man came out of the vehicle, he was in mufti and he said he is an army officer from the Ibereko Barracks and they cannot check the vehicle,” said a police source. “The policemen told the soldier that they have to do their work so that was how problem started and one of them shot the soldier. The soldier was allegedly rushed to a hospital where he was confirmed dead.”
When the news of the death of the unnamed solider filtered into the barracks, other soldiers went wild and started kidnapping policemen. Four police officers were kidnapped on Monday morning and detained in the army barracks. The soldiers were not satisfied as witnesses said they went on rampage killing and attacking police officers in and around the barracks.
The development led to the peace talks visit by the deceased police officers to the barracks. Taofeek , before he gave up the ghost, narrated how they were attacked. “My DPO heard how the soldiers were killing police men so we went out to check out things for ourselves,” he said. “A police man had been matcheted to death by the soldiers at the roundabout that day.
As we approached the gate of the barracks, the soldiers opened fire on our vehicle and the DCO was shot. He died immediately. The DPO came out of the vehicle and he too was shot at close range but he did not die. They shot him severally and when they noticed that he did not die, they had to use a brick to hit him on the head. All this time, a bullet had hit me and had pierced through my lungs and I ran out into the bush where I started bleeding profusely.”
Taofeek is survived by a wife and four children.
Meanwhile, the military authorities have begun investigation into the development. It was also gathered that the officer commanding of the 242 Recce Battalion Barracks, Colonel Nabasa, was handcuffed and flown to Abuja on Wednesday night on the orders of the Presidency.
The Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, has appealed to police officers to be calm, adding that the case will be thoroughly investigated and the culprits will be arrested and prosecuted.

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