Two yet-to-be-identified soldiers have allegedly shot a commercial driver, Bolaji Sunday, for parking his car at the front of the Oriental Transport Company in the Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State.
Someone had asked Sunday to come to the location to connect him with a customer but one of the military men ordered him to move his car from the front of the company he parked it.
NIGERIACRIME gathered that the soldiers demanded the key to Sunday’s vehicle and ordered him to sit in a gutter when he was trying to give an explanation.
The soldiers allegedly shot two of his tyres, upon realising that the driver was still explaining his reason, rather than complying with the order.
As the driver tried to run from the scene to protect his life, he said one of the soldiers shot him at the back.
The soldier was admitted at the Real Divine Hospital in the Ibafo area of the Obafemi Owode Local Government Area.
While narrating his ordeal, he said, “I came out on Saturday to meet the person that will give me the number of the customer I was to carry on Sunday. So I parked my vehicle at a location around the Magboro Bridge. I was going to meet the person when the commander of the soldiers asked why I parked my bus at the location and requested my key. He later told me to sit inside the gutter.
“I did not steal anything; I was just waiting for my customer. But before I knew it, they started beating me with a belt. When I tried to hold the belt, they broke my windscreen and shot two of my tyres. I quickly jumped down and started running away for my safety but the soldiers shot my back and I fell inside the gutter.
“While in the gutter, I started calling for help but no one came to my rescue because they were afraid. It was later that a driver, who was travelling to Ibadan, Oyo State, helped me. The driver brought me out of the gutter and drove me to the hospital. They shot me in the back and arm; the bullet penetrated through and came out from the other side of my body.”
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The victim’s wife, Oluwatosin, decried the maltreatment meted on her husband and asked the authorities to ensure that justice is served.
She said, “My husband just wanted to collect the number of one of his customers at the location where he parked his vehicle. But the soldiers came out suddenly and asked him to sit in the gutter.
“I wondered what he did wrong; he pleaded that they allow him to drive his bus away from there but the next thing the soldiers did was to burst his tyres. It was when my husband made an effort to run away that the soldiers shot him. The soldiers also destroyed his windscreen.”
Reacting to the development, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, said efforts were on to track the fleeing soldier who shot the victim.
She said, “The incident occurred at Magboro Bus Stop, where Oriental Transport Company usually park their vehicles. The soldiers attached to the company asked Bolaji Sunday, 35, to move the vehicle he parked in front of the company away, an argument ensued and one of the soldiers fired him.
“Sunday was rushed to the hospital where the Divisional Police Officer is in communication with him and he is also responding to treatment. No other available information has reached the police as to the real reason for that extent of provocation; residents were appeased to remain calm while effort is ongoing to track the unidentified fleeing soldier.”