Kunle Adelabu
There was a palpable tension in Ikorodu on Wednesday evening as a Mobile Police Officer allegedly stabbed a soldier to death.
The incident, THE IMPACT gathered, occurred at Odogunyan in Ikorodu North Local Council Development Area (LCDA), in Ikorodu Division of Lagos State, Southwest, Nigeria.
According to residents, the dead soldier was said to have stabbed the said Mobile officer, who some also said is actually a Legion officer, and queried him over the service cap he had on him.
It was gathered that the officer showed his card, but the soldier said that it was a fake and removed the cap from him, which led to a problem.
In the process, the said Mobile officer was said to have brought out a knife while the officer picked a stool to defend himself.
Unfortunately, the soldier was stabbed in the neck, losing several blood.
On hearing the death of the soldier, colleagues of the slain soldier who many described as a fine gentle officer, took to the street in anger as hell was let loose at the Ikorodu garage when soldiers allegedly stormed the area in search of police officers.
We also gathered that the dead officer got married recently and his wife is carrying his baby.
It was gathered that residents ran helter-skelter when the incident happened.
THE IMPACT also gathered that the death of the soldier also led to a reprisal attack on Ogijo Police Station, where we gathered that the alleged Mobile Police Officer who stabbed the soldier to death, usually stayed.
Mrs Toyin, a resident of Ita – Oluwo, a border town between Ikorodu/Lagos State and Ogijo/Ogun State, said that she was cut in the crisis and only escaped by a whisker.
“It was so scary. We succeeded in getting to the Ita – Oluwo bus stop from Ikorodu and while the bus driver was trying to get change of the fare I paid him, we saw the crowd running and shouting”, she stated while narrating her experience.
“Instantly, the driver zoomed off, and everybody ran away, but I was unable to run anywhere. I was at that spot when one of the soldiers queried why I did not run. I only responded that there was nowhere to run to,hence, I stayed.
“One of the officers assisted me in getting the heel of my shoe, which removed when the whole mayhem started and they all went away without touching me”, she said.
A resident, who said that he alighted from the BRT only to face the pandemonium, described the situation as crazy.
“We don’t know what actually happened. I came down from the BRT bus and suddenly discovered that people were running and I had too. It was crazy. I later learnt that the issue was between the soldiers and policemen.
