Three Injured as Civil Defence Agent Shoots, Kills Petrol Black Marketeer in Lagos

Chiemelie Ezeobi
A yet-to-be identified female personnel of the Nigerian Security Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) wednesday allegedly shot and killed a fuel black marketer, simply identified as Dijo, in front of the Forte Oil located at 21 road area of FESTAC Town, Lagos State.

This is just as they left three others with varying degree of injuries as the victims were hit by stray bullets, which were shot indiscriminately by the Civil Defence agent.

The NSCDC officer was part of the task force with other police officers mandated to restore sanity to 21 Road following the chaos created by queue at fuel stations.

Although it wasn’t yet ascertained why the she shot Dijo, it was however gathered that the deceased bled and died on the spot before help could come, even as three others sustained injuries from the gunshots.

According to eyewitness account, the task force had tried to restore sanity but were repelled by the petrol dealers, who were also struggling to buy fuel to sell to desperate motorists.

Going a step forward, the operatives had also tried to confiscate some of the products already purchased by these black marketers but were resisted.

It was also gathered that the petrol dealers had teamed up to resist any attempts either to arrest them or to give away their products to motorists free of charge.

In the process, the operatives were said to have started firing indiscriminately into the air to dispel them but things went awry, thus exacerbating an already tense situation.

Immediately the incident happened, angry youths quickly mobilised to retaliate but the operatives were already whisked away to safety.

Notwithstanding, the mob dragged tyres on the road and set it on fire, even as the dead body of the deceased was carried across the road and dropped on the ground.

However, attempts to set Forte Oil on fire was prevented by teams of policemen deployed from both the FESTAC Police Division and the Area E Police Command.

Debunking claims that the police were part of the killer squad, the state Police Public Relations however confirmed the death of the fuel dealer.

She said: “There is no case of such. The report on ground at AP filling station is that some NSCDC men in a patrol vehicle had scuffle with some men at the filling station which led to indiscriminate firing.
“One person was shot dead while three others were severely injured. The area E commander is on ground restoring normalcy while the command has commenced investigation to identify the civil defence operatives who were involved.”