‘Our men came under attack’ — police speak on death of Lagos trader

The Lagos police command says its men came under attack by suspected kidnappers when a stray bullet killed Busayo Owoodun, a trader, around Jakande in Ijegun, Isolo local government area.

Following the incident which happened on Saturday, angry youths had detained two of the policemen before soldiers stormed the area.

In a statement, Bala Elkana, police spokesperson in Lagos, said a team from the police’s anti-kidnapping squad was trailing the suspects who joined forces with cultists in the area. 

“On 10th August, 2019 at about 1455hours, a team of policemen from the anti-kidnapping unit attached to Area M Command Idimu tracked some kidnapping suspects to Ijegun – Isolo road, Ijegun bus stop but came under attack by members of the deadly gang,” the statement read.

“A stray bullet hit one Busayo Owoodun ‘f’. The gang with the support of some notorious cultists in the area, attacked the police team and injured the team leader, ASP Victor Ugbegun and two others who are currently in critical condition at the intensive care unit.

“Reinforcements from operations department, rapid response squad, task force, and neighbouring divisions were able to contain the situation and evacuate the injured officers to hospital.”

The command added that it has launched a manhunt of the assailants with a view of bringing them to justice, and Zubairu Mu’azu, the commissioner of police, had also ordered for an investigation to be carried out.