Activists in Lagos State have claimed that recent killings by police officers show that the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad are back in the state.
Some of the activists under the aegis of Take It Back Movement in Lagos State also decried the killings of innocent Nigerians.
They made the complaint in a statement by their Publicity Secretary, Ridwan Ajayi, titled, ‘Police extra-judicial killings in Lagos: TIB movement Lagos condemns the murder of Monsurat Ojuade, demands justice and end to killings.”
The group complained that killings never stopped despite the #EndSARS protest in the state.
Mosurat Ojuade, who was awaiting university admission having scored 236 marks in JAMB, was killed by a trigger-happy policeman identified as one Samuel Phillips during a raid un Lagos.
Eyewitnesses narrated that Ojuade and her sister ran into their compound for safety, as the raider was ransacking the neighborhood.
But as their mother tried to hurriedly close the gate, the police officer shot at a close range.
Ojuade was first taken to a public hospital for treatment but she was rejected due to the ongoing strike.
Her family took her to another hospital but, unfortunately, she died at the third hospital after bleeding profusely from the bullet wound.
Part of the statement read, “We in the Take It Back Movement Lagos condemns in strict terms the extra-judicial killing of an 18-year-old admission seeker, Monsurat Ojuade, who was fatally shot dead in cold blood on September 11, 2021 by a trigger-happy policeman in Lagos State.
“We equally condemn the dead on arrival efforts of the Lagos police in an attempt to cover up the truth by releasing a misleading police report that was unrelated to the brutal event which led to the death of Monsurat Ojuade on September 11, 2021.
“We use this opportunity to remind the public of how the Lagos police brutally murdered Jumoke at the Yoruba Nation rally on the 3rd July, 2021.
“The policeman who shot Jumoke is yet to be identified, dismissed or prosecuted, instead the Lagos police charged one of the Yoruba Nation agitators who is an Ogboni chief with the death of Jumoke just to cover up the unfortunate incident. There has been no #JusticeForJumoke after 73 days of her brutal murder.
“While we acknowledge the arrest and identification of the trigger-happy policeman as claimed by the Lagos CP, we call for his quick dismissal from service and also his quick prosecution according to the law.
We also call for permanent end to police brutality, human rights violations, extra-judicial killings, frequent victimisation and harassment of Lagosian by the police, as well as the unlawful policing by some members of the Nigerian Police Force.
“We put the public and Lagosians on alert over the rising cases of police brutality and killings that never stopped even after #EndSARS.
“We send our humble tribute and condolences to the family of Monsurat Ojuade and we pray that God grant them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.”
