Nigerian Police, Lagos State Command, today made allegations that police officers under the command who were deployed around the exhibition center on August 3 involved Nigerian army officers in the violence that resulted in the death of Inspector Monday Orukpe and injuries led, others strongly refuted.
The claim was credited to the outgoing GOC of the Nigerian Army’s 81st Division, Major General Umar Musa.
In the press release, electronically signed by Lagos Police PRO and issued to the National Association of Online Security News Publishers, NAOSNP, SP Benjamin Hundeyin responded: “The attention of Lagos State Police Command has been drawn to a report credited to Major General Umar Musa, outgoing GOC 81 Division, claims that a “policeman fired at the soldier during the altercation, hitting him in the ear but narrowly missing his vital parts”.
As much as the Lagos State Police Command is in a sad mood and has decided to take the line of civility, it is appropriate to take a stand against misinformation.’
SP Hundeyin reported: “The fact remains that on Wednesday, August 3, 2022, at the Lagos State Fairgrounds, about thirty privates from the Nigerian Army attacked five police officers for stopping vehicles in their lane to block a heavy-duty truck pave the connection to the expressway.
After the soldiers brutalized the ASP leading the team, stole his magazine, and kidnapped two inspectors with their rifles, the next inspector they were about to attack fired a single shot in the air – an act the soldiers did prompted to withdraw.
The only shot went in the air. At no time was anyone hit.
Lagos State Police Command is urging army authorities to bring in the soldier allegedly shot.’
“As we mourn our fallen hero and pray for the full recovery of the second kidnapped inspector, we urge Nigerians to ignore the claim that a soldier was shot dead as there is absolutely no truth to it.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Police Command is eagerly awaiting the report of the investigative committee set up by the Nigerian Army to investigate the immediate and remote cause of the incident,” he told NAOSNP.
“The command looks equally forward to fishing out the soldiers behind the torture and murder of Inspector Monday Orukpe; and the return of two AK47 rifles and three magazines carted away by the soldiers, in line with the Nigerian Army’s pledge, as delivered by Brigadier General KN Nwoko during a condolence visit to Lagos State Command Police Commissioner CP Abiodun Ablabi ‘fdc.’, Hundeyin concluded.
