Police officers attached to the Panti Division on Friday night allegedly shot and killed an 18-year-old lady, Monsurat Ojuade, during a raid in Surulere, Lagos.
Oluwatosin Ojuade, the elder sister of the deceased, said Monsurat, a fashion designer, was shot inside their compound in Mogaji, Surulere, one month after her 18th birthday.
The incident left her parents and three siblings shocked as residents gathered in circles discussing the matter.
The elder sister said the deceased was about to lock her mother’s shop outside the compound when she saw people running.
“She ran inside the compound with my other sibling, Laide; my mother was washing clothes when they ran in,” she said.
“My mother tried to shut the gate but a policeman was dragging it with her, then she heard the gunshot, she didn’t even know that it had hit someone. She opened the gate to know who shot the bullet and she said she saw the policeman going, she saw the back view.
“Immediately the gunshot hit her on the leg, she (Monsurat) shouted, so my immediate younger sister (Laide) held her and ran back to my mummy that Monsurat has been hit, there was blood on the ground. The bullet passed through her two thighs,” she said.
According to a witness, Adepiti Adewunmi, the deceased with her mother, a petty trader, and another sibling, Laide, were running for safety when the incident happened.
“It happened on Friday night around 10:30 p.m. The mother is a petty trader.
“We got information that some policemen were picking up people. They were raiding and normally anytime that they are out, they pick innocent people.
“It happened that they were trying to pack some goods from the kiosk into their residence when they noticed that some people were running, the girl, her mom and sister also ran.
“Immediately they ran inside, they shut the gate, the policemen were forcing the gate to open it, people in the compound ran inside their rooms.
Ms Adewunmi said while people were running into the compound, Ms Ojuade’s sister, Laide, fell and the deceased stopped to help her, leaving the gate open.
That was when the policeman fired into the compound, according to her.
“After the gunshot, she was screaming that the police has shot me, the sister ran out.”
Ms Adewunmi said she tied her towel around the wound to stop the blood.
She noted that the police came in two buses – one was painted white and the other yellow.
She said they took Ms Ojuade to Comforter Hospital in the area but the doctor wasn’t available.
“We took her to Randle, they told us that she was hit at a close range and that they will give us the First Aid. They issued a referral letter to Igbobi Orthopaedic Hospital.
“At Igbobi, they said that they can’t attend to us that they are on strike. So, we went to Havannah Hospital along Akerele road, that was where she was declared dead.
Ms Adewunmi said they took her corpse home, then on Saturday morning, some residents went to report to the Ijeshatedo police station.
“Ijesha police took her to the morgue, but they said we will be the one to foot the bills.”
