BY Ayodele Oluwafemi
The family of Monsurat Ojuade, the 18-year-old girl who was killed during a raid by police officers at Ijesha axis of Surulere in Lagos, has rejected the claim of the police that their daughter was hit by a stray bullet.
Israel Mbaebie, the counsel to the deceased’s family in a statement on Monday, said the deceased was “shot at close range” by the “killer police personnel”.
TheCable had on Sunday reported that the 18-year-old was shot when she and her elder sister ran into their premises on Friday night following a police raid in the area.
Tosin Ojuade, one of deceased’s sister, alleged that a police officer shot the late Ojuade, while their mother who was washing clothes in the compound wanted to close the gate but the officer tried to force the gate open from the outside.
Tosin said her mother heard the gunshot and that the bullet pierced through the deceased’s thigh.
A resident said the deceased was taken to a private hospital in the area, but was not attended to because doctors were not around.
The deceased was said to have been taken to Randle Hospital in Surulere, where she was briefly treated and referred to Igbobi Orthopaedic Hospital.
The resident said the late Ojuade was not attended to at Igbobi hospital because those around said they were on strike, adding that the wounded girl died after she was taken to another hospital.
But the Lagos police, in a statement on Sunday, claimed the deceased was hit by a stray bullet when operatives from the state criminal investigation department (CID), Panti were arresting armed robbery suspects in the area.
The police said the police officer who shot the girl has been arrested and detained.
Reacting to the statement, the deceased’s family said it is “disrespectful” to the memory of the slain girl for the police to attempt to change the narrative that the she was killed by a stray bullet.
The family asked the police to reveal the identity of the detained police officer, adding that not doing so will be perceived as a cover-up.
“Our clients reject in its entirety and without any equivocation the said Police Report and state with every sense of consternation and dismay that their daughter was not killed by a stray bullet but was shot at close range execution style by the killer police personnel,” the statement reads.
“That a police personnel in military fatigues had gone after them in hot pursuit and was banging on the gate shouting “I will shoot”. That almost simultaneously, a gunshot rang out hitting and killing the late Monsurat while the killer cop walked casually away leaving her to bleed to death.
“That it is very disrespectful to the memory of the deceased for the police to attempt at this moment to change the narrative to the effect that the deceased was killed by a stray bullet. the late Monsurat was murdred in cold blood with a clear premeditation on the part of the killer police personnel and not a stray bullet as being painted by the police
“That our clients and nay the whole world at large demand forthwith to know the true identity of the individual who murdered their innocent 18 year old daughter in cold blood. Any other thing to the contrary would be perceived as an attempt at a cover-up on the part of the police and will be totally unacceptable to them.
“That our clients demand to know from the killer of their daughter the reason why he/she pursued an innocent girl to her compound and shot her from a very close range execution style and casually walked away as if it was a chicken or a goat that had just been murdered.”
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