Beasts of No Nation: How four soldiers shot man, killed another in Ogun hospital —Police

Samson Folarin

The Ogun State Police Command has said soldiers from the 81 division were involved in the killing of some residents of Isheri Olofin, a boundary community between Lagos and Ogun States.

The police spokesperson, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said statements from eyewitnesses revealed that the soldiers dragged a resident from the hospital where he was being treated and stabbed him to death with a bayonet.

Our correspondent had earlier reported that during the celebration of the Isheri Day Festival on Monday, a disagreement broke out among some residents.

In the ensuing fracas, some soldiers were reported to have shot dead three people at the party.

A statement by the Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, Major Clement Abiade, had denied military involvement in the killing, saying instead a soldier was injured.

But the Ogun State Police Command in its statement by Oyeyemi said at least four soldiers were involved in the killings.

He said, “The Commissioner of Police, Bashir Makama, has ordered a full-scale investigation into the “Isheri Day” shooting incident in Ogun State on August 13, 2019, by suspected soldiers believed to be from Ikeja Cantonment, with a view to bringing the suspects to justice.

“Credible Information at the disposal of the command has it that on the said date, four men of the Nigerian Army believed to be from Ikeja Cantonment and posted to Kara Market, left their beats and went to Isheri Olofin, a border town between Lagos and Ogun State where the indigenes of the town were celebrating their annual “Isheri Day”.

“The soldiers, on getting there, had a minor disagreement with some youths which made the soldiers start shooting sporadically into the air.

“Consequently, one Damilare Adelani was hit by bullets and he died on the spot. The ugly incident infuriated the people at the scene who in turn reacted violently against the soldiers leaving one of the soldiers and three other civilians injured.

“The soldiers quickly took their injured colleague to a hospital where they met one of the injured civilians being attended to by a medical doctor on duty.

“The statement from the officials of the hospital reveals that the soldiers ordered the doctor at gunpoint to leave the injured man and attend to their colleague.

“They then dragged the patient out of the (hospital) bed  and subsequently stabbed him to death with a Bayonet attached to the muzzle of his rifle.”

Oyeyemi said the command had contacted the military authorities in Ogun State and efforts were on to bring the suspected killer(s) to book.

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