| Bloody day as Air Force,
Police clash
By DIPO KEHINDE, OLUWATOYOSI OGUNSEYE and CHRISTOPHER OJI
Thursday, July 8, 2004
Three policemen were shot dead in cold blood and several
others injured by Air Force men in Lagos on Wednesday, following
a raid by detectives on a dark spot opposite the Sam Ethnan
Air Force base in Ikeja.
The bloody encounter began on Tuesday, when detectives from
the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Panti,
stormed the dark spot and nabbed some suspected criminals,
who were found smoking Indian hemp.
One of the suspects was shot in the leg as he allegedly tried
to disarm a policeman. It was later discovered that he was
an Air Force man. But he was in mufti, wearing leather sandals
and sitting inside a shed along the railway line, when the
detectives arrived.
Early Wednesday, Air Force men and some street urchins took
to the streets, picking up policemen who were on their way
to work.
Some were dragged down from commercial buses and one officer
riding in a Mercedes Benz 230E, marked CG 219 JJJ was intercepted
and beaten to a pulp. The windshield of the car was smashed
and the officer abducted alongside some 25 other policemen.
Later in the day, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police Israel
Ajao, who had been consulting with the military authorities
since Tuesday to avert bloodshed, was asked to come and pick
the bodies of his men and those who were injured.
The police authorities said they had contacted the Base Commander,
Group Captain Dick Iruevebre, who allegedly said he could
not handle the rampaging Air Force men, until three policemen
went down.
Asked to comment on the development, Air Force spokesman,
Wing Commander Charles Ozoemena said his superiors would hold
a press conference today.
On discovery that three of their colleagues had been killed,
mobile policemen approached the Air Force Base ready to launch
a reprisal attack, but were cautioned in a radio message from
the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ajao.
As soon as the dead bodies were brought to the Command Headquarters
of the police in Ikeja, Ajao ordered an headcount of his men.
While the fight was on, policemen deserted the roads in most
parts of Lagos, and some armed robbers took advantage of their
disappearance, as they had a field day at the Maryland area
robbing motorists and pedestrians.
The battle also caused a traffic jam along the Agege Motor
Road, where soldiers were seen on surveillance in police patrol
vehicles.
The smashed Mercedes Benz was later identified as that of
a former Inspector General of Police, Mr. Aliyu Atta, whose
orderly was stabbed in the head and cheek.
The Air Force men also manhandled a cameraman working for
Channels Television for daring to come to the scene to take
shots.
The presidency, however, moved in as tension was mounting
in the area, sending the Deputy Inspector General of Police
in charge of operations, Mr Mike Okiro to Lagos, to hold meetings
with the Air Force Commandant and CP Lagos and restore peace
before street urchins could hijack the chaotic situation.
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