Stray bullet kills betting agent in Ogun
A betting agent around the Imala/Elega area of Abeokuta, Abiodun Anuoluwapo, was killed by a stray bullet from a police officer attached to Ogun State Command on Friday night.
It was gathered that Anuoluwapo, a graduate of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, operated a betting shop in front of a popular hotel, First Point, in the area and was closing his shop for the day when the bullet from the blue hit him and he reportedly died on the spot.
The situation surrounding Anuoluwapo’s death at the time of filling this report was still hazy.
While a source who preferred anonymity alleged that the officers who emerged from the hotel were drunk before one of them released the bullet, another person said that the police officers were either on a raid or chasing a suspect when one of them accidentally fired the deceased fondly called Pepe in front of his shop.
Our correspondent learnt that the officers immediately allegedly escaped into the hotel and called for backup before they escaped from the hotel some hours later.
The source said, “The young man owned a shop opposite First Point Hotel. The police were chasing someone or on the raid and there was an accidental discharge, the stray bullet hit the guy and he died immediately.
“The youth in the area tried to hold down the policemen but they ran into the hotel. They had to reinforce to get more police to come to rescue them before they were able to run away later around 11 pm. The incident happened around 8 pm.
“As they were trying to disperse the protesting youths, they kept shooting a lot of guns. In fact, fear gripped everybody and the youths in the area were angry over this mindless killing”.
Some of the youths in the area alleged that it was an officer in charge of the Fadage police post who fired the shot, while another alleged that it was the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Adatan who fired the shot.
When contacted for a reaction on Saturday, the Spokesperson for Ogun State Police Command, SP Omolola Odutola confirmed the incident.
Odutola, however, added that the Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alamutu, had made contacts with all stakeholders involved to start an investigation.
She said, “We have gotten the information that one Aanu was a victim. It is not easy to say exactly what happened but the CP is in touch with the stakeholders. He has called everybody involved so that we can start investigating what happened. We are aware, we have been informed, but we are still deliberating on the matter.”
