One person was shot dead and many injured in Lagos on Wednesday as commercial drivers and policemen attached to the Lagos State Task Force on Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit clashed in the Mile 12 area.
When our correspondents visited the area, it was observed that about 10 vehicles were vandalised with broken pieces of glass scattered all over the area .
PUNCH Metro
gathered that the clash , which began around 10 am, was as a result of the resistance by some drivers to arrest by the task force personnel.
An eyewitness , Ms Bejide Lawal, said the people who were involved in the incident were drivers, noting that the police wanted to arrest them but they resisted .
Lawal explained that when the police were unable to arrest the drivers as they began pelting the personnel with missiles, the police started firing live bullets and tear gas canisters at the crowd .
She stated that the police were eventually able to arrest some of the drivers.
Lawal said , “The police fought with the drivers this morning. They wanted to arrest the drivers but the drivers prevented the police personnel. But as the police insisted on arresting them , the drivers began to hurl stones at them.
“ It was then that the police personnel started firing shots in the air and at the crowd. They also fired tear gas canisters at the people . Apart from this , they arrested some drivers. â€
One of the drivers, identified simply as Mutiu, whose bus was vandalised , said the attack was a reprisal by the task force personnel.
Mutiu noted that on Tuesday , the task force personnel were prevented from making arrests by soldiers around the area.
He alleged that the soldiers failed to intervene when the officers returned on Wednesday.
He stated, “ On Tuesday , when the task force officers came to Mile 12 to arrest buses on the service lane, the soldiers on duty prevented them, because it was an illegal operation .
source:
punchng.com/one-killed-10-buses-vandalised-as-drivers-policemen-clash-in-lagos/
