Christopher Oji
There was pandemonium Wednesday afternoon as a policeman teargased a young man to death at the Fagba area of Iju, Lagos.
The policeman is attached to the Armoured Personal Carrier (APC) stationed in front of an eatery near Fagba traffic light.
It was gathered that an Hausa scavenger had bought a used generator from the deceased, whose name was given as Sunday, but the former did not want to pay. Instead he ran to the police officers at the APC to report that he had discovered a man who allegedly stole a generating set.
The policemen allegedly arrested Sunday, who they interrogated, but Sunday was said to have told the police that he was the owner of the generating set.
A witness, Mr Steven Madu, said: “The deceased, while being interrogated, maintained that he was the owner of the generator and that he had receipt to prove ownership. But one of the policemen, who was overzealous, brought out a teargas canister and sprayed it on the face of deceased, even when he was explaining that he was asthmatic. “The policeman emptied the teargas canister on the man. We all took to our heels because of the danger of the teargas. It was when the smoke settled that we came back to meet the lifeless body of Sunday.
“We were told by a woman believed to be Sunday’s wife that the victim was asthmatic. The question is, why did the policeman use teargas on the man? Why the torture even when the man kept shouting that he was innocent and asthmatic? We want the police to investigate the matter and bring the policeman and his colleagues who watched him torture Sunday to death to book. We are aware that the policemen guarding the APC have turned the place to a tollgate where they used to extort members of the public and beat up those who fail to pay tolls to “cooperate.” They are not fighting crime but only lining their pockets. “