A 20-year old sales girl identified simply as Lucy, was
on Friday shot dead by policemen in the Apo area of Abuja. The girl was hit in
the chest by bullets fired into a photography shop where she worked as a sales
girl.
Three other people sustained gunshot injuries when
policemen from the FCT Police Command fired bullets indiscriminately in an
attempt to enforce the demolition order of the Abuja Metropolitan Management
Council. The policemen had stormed the area around 7 am with officials of
Development Control Department, who had come to demolish illegal structures.
But residents and indigenes, who felt that the government
had no right to demolish their houses when they were yet to be resettled,
resisted the operation.
They claimed that the case was still in court and that
their leaders had advised them to continue to live in the area pending the
determination of the suit.
As the policemen shot indiscriminately to control the
residents, bullets penetrated into one of the shops and Lucy was hit in the
chest. She was rushed to Garki Hospital, but she was confirmed dead on arrival.
Her body has been deposited in the mortuary.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr. Wilson
Inalegwu, met the House of Representatives representing AMAC/Bwari constituency
of the FCT, Zephaniah Jisalo, at the hospital when he visited.
Inalegwu, who was in tears, assured the lawmaker that the
case would be investigated.
“We are not sure what took our men there or what led to
the shooting, it’s still a matter for investigation,” he said.
Emeka Ani, owner of the photo shop, where the deceased
worked, said that his sales boy also sustained gunshot injuries during the
incident.
He said, “From morning, the police surrounded our area.
They said they came for demolition. All of a sudden, they started shooting
sporadically. They shot into my shop and killed my sales girl. My boy also
sustained injuries. Lucy has been with me for about one month. Her sister
brought her for me from Cross River.”
The National Coordinator, Greater Gbyagi Initiative, Mr.
Gimba Baiza, described the incident as wicked.
Punch
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