In an unexpected incident that happened in recent days, a group of furious youth set fire to a Lagos Police Station located at Olayiwola Close, Oregun neighborhood of Ikeja, over an alleged killing of a 23-year-old Idris Bakare by a police officer identified as Kabiru. Reports by the press found that the station was intentionally set on fire at around 3 a.m. on May 28, 2023, and that a police officer allegedly shot and killed a man named Bakare at around 12:00a.m that same day.
When the reporters visited the location, they discovered that the victims’ friends and other local residents had assembled in groups to mourn the young man they described as easygoing. One of his friends, who requested anonymity, stated that they had planned to visit Fela Shrine before the incident. He was quoted as saying “we were supposed to go to Fela Shrine and he asked me to wait for him to take his phone from his room, but in return, I told him to go and sleep because we couldn’t go to the shrine again because it was a Sunday,”
Police said an inquiry into the incident had commenced.
A Police officer by the name, Kabiru parked at the other side of the road, and some people pointed out that the officer saw the man before the incident, made a judgement and then he went back to his car to park at the Divine Health Centre, Lawal Street, at that time he pointed his gun at Idris and shot him dead. A few teenagers retaliated by attacking the station at 3 a.m., chasing the cops and injuring one of them. According to a squad of police officers stationed around the surrounding streets with three vans, the injured officer was immediately taken to a medical facility at the toll gate along the Lagos-Ibadan Motorway.
According to reports, the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service (LSFR) was called in to help the situation. The fire was extinguished, but the police station was destroyed. The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the attack, saying that an inquiry into the incident had begun and that the officer responsible for the assault, Inspector Kabiru, had been detained and was being held at the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) in Yaba, Lagos.
Two alleged Oodua Nation agitators were detained prior to the attack.
While the investigation is still underway, he noted that no one has been arrested in connection with the incident at the station and noted that the injured officer is doing fine. Another witness, an elderly woman who lives next to the station, said she counts her blessings police officers detained two alleged Oodua Nation agitators as her home was left untouched. 24 hours prior to the attackers who had broken into the Alausa Division of the Lagos State Police Command. A police spokesperson claimed that the agitators stormed the station at 5:30 a.m. on May 28, 2023, armed with a variety of charms and cutlasses.
Hundeyin explained that the suspects arrived at the station and straight away began recording with their phones while shouting, “Yoruba Nation have taken over in Yorubaland.” According to the spokesperson, the suspects attacked the police officers who were attempting to remove them, and with the help of police reinforcements just two of the agitators were apprehended while the others got away. From them, we were able to retrieve various charms, cutlasses, and the group’s symbol, he added.
Apprehended suspects have begun cooperating with investigators.
The Yoruba Nation agitators claimed they had a letter from the UN verifying their legitimacy and were at the station to present it. Alausa area as a whole, including the Station, is now more heavily patrolled by police, and calm and peace have been restored. According to Hundeyin, the apprehended suspects have already begun cooperating with investigators by providing crucial information about the group’s membership and future goals, allowing the police to more effectively counteract the threat they pose. The statement went on to say that updates would be provided “in due course.”
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Furious youths set police station ablaze. – No one has been arrested in connection with the fire incident. – Express your point of view.
Insurgency in Nigeria has still not been completely defeated. What happened in Oregun, Ikeja is condemnable. No matter what happens, a police station shouldn’t be razed down by people. I hope law enforcement agencies will calm the situation down in that area.
This is another act of violence why will people setting police station on fire something should be done and settle thing there so this act cannot happen again
This act of violence of police station should not be anyway tolerated and those responsible for the act should be investigated and prosecuted by law for engaging in such act.
Those who as connection to the fire incident should be punished for the bad act they did for set police station ablaze
Furious youths set police station ablaze this is a very wrong thing to do set police station on fire is not right all those who are together in it need to be caught and be punished
While the act of setting a police station on fire is a serious offense, It is crucial for the government and law enforcement agencies to engage with the public and address their concerns in a peaceful and lawful manner, to reduce the likelihood of such violent protests.
Furious youths set police station ablaze. We are in a lawless country where people do whatever they like and go free without paying for their bad deed. A country where rich oppress the poor without the law action. A country where government failed to take up their responsibilities but only focus on what they want to gain, their selfish desire
Proper investigation should be conducted before swinging into action because it is not proper to burn down a police station. Something must have prompted it apart from the young man that was shot by that useless police officer.
I total condemn the action of the youths in setting the police station ablaze. They went too far. Proper investigation should be carried out to be certain of what led to the shooting. Something is wrong somewhere.