A tragic incident occurred around 11pm on Wednesday, as it was gathered that a Policeman guarding Ileviaoje Hotel in the Ijegun, Ikotun area of Lagos State, reportedly shot dead a 28-year-old UNIZIK Graduate identified as Jude Okoronta.
Before the incident occurred, the UNIZIK Graduate who was waiting for a motorcycle to take him home as he stood in front of the hotel, reportedly had a fight with the yet-to-be-identified policeman, who shot him dead.
An eyewitness who spoke to Punch’s correspondent said;
“When the men came out of the hotel, they continued their fight. The mobile policeman locked the hotel gate to prevent people from entering.
“The man shot into the air to scare away the crowd that had gathered in front of the hotel because of the fight. The bullet hit the man that was waiting for okada (motocycle) to take him home.
“The man that died was not among the people fighting. He was hit by a bullet and died on the spot.”
The brother of the deceased on his own part said that his brother who had gone out of the hotel and was heading home when the fight broke out in the hotel, as a customer at the hotel. Paul who accused the management of the hotel of keeping mum over the incident, also accusing the police of seeking to bury the case, said;
“He had been going to the hotel for months now; he was one of their customers. Because we usually have power problems, we also sometimes go there to charge our phones and relax. But he had left the hotel when he was shot and killed.”
“The management of the hotel is trying to bury the case. That was why they called the police to secure the hotel. They want to scare people away so that they can forget about it.”
The Police Public Relations Officer, Chike Oti, who confirmed the incident said,
“Two guys got into an argument and a mobile policeman around tried to settle them. But one of them, called Jude, attempted to snatch the policeman’s gun.
“In fact, they struggled for the gun for a long time. He tried to wrest the gun from the policeman’s hand and the bullet went off.”
He, however, added that investigation was ongoing into the matter.