NDLEA officers’ stray bullet kills bricklayer

The family of a bricklayer, Femi Aremu, has
accused men of the National Drug Law
Enforcement Agency of killing him.
Aremu was allegedly killed by a stray bullet
on
Tuesday February 24, 2015, while working
at a shop belonging to one Ganiyat Lateef at
Ikota Housing Estate.
It was gathered that the NDLEA officers from
Ikeja came at about 12.40pm on the fateful
day to arrest one Anuwa Bello, who was said
to be a suspected cannabis dealer in the
area.
It was also learnt that some hoodlums in the
community barricaded the streets to prevent
the NDLEA officers from leaving with the
suspect.
Sensing a mob attack, the NDLEA men were
said to have fired some shots into the air to
scare the mob.
It was learnt that one of the bullets hit Aremu
and he died instantly.Ganiyat, who engaged
Aremu’s services, condemned the manner in
which the NDLEA men conducted themselves
during the operation. Speaking to our
correspondent on the phone, she said,
“They were just shooting anyhow. People
were running helter-skelter, not knowing
what was happening. Femi (Aremu), who
was working in my shop, was shot in the
process and he died on the spot.”
Ganiyat’s husband, Olatunji Lateef, said, “The
NDLEA officials came in five vehicles
numbering over 30. They came on mufti and
were all armed.
“The only way we identified them was
through the red vest they wore with the
NDLEA written at the back. All of a sudden,
we started hearing gunshots and people
started running. I ran into the shop to take
cover, but Femi was not so lucky. Everything
happened so fast and before we knew what
was happening, Femi was already on the
ground. The bullet hit him in the head.”
Bolaji Aina, a friend to the Aremu family
condemned the killing, stressing that such
was unprofessional. He said the family had
written a petition to the Lagos State
Commissioner of Police, calling for a prompt
action to bring the perpetrators to justice.
The spokesperson for the NDLEA, Mitchell
Ofoyeju, denied the killing, but said that the
agency would investigate the allegation.
On the activities of the NDLEA on the said
day, he said, “Our men went on an official
assignment to the area. We received
information on one Anuwa Bello. When we got
to Bello’s residence, we conducted a search
and recovered 14.6 kilogrammes of cannabis.
”On our way back to the office with the
suspect, some hoodlums barricaded the
road in order to prevent our men from
leaving with the suspect. In the face of
such daring confrontation, our men were
left with no choice but to fire some shots
into the air to disperse the hoodlums.
“This is not the first time our men will be
witnessing such resistance in the area.
The suspect is a notorious cannabis
dealer and he will be charged to court.
On the allegation of the killing, it was the
following day that some people, who
claimed to be members of the Oodua
People’s Congress, came to the office to
complain that they found a dead body
after our men had left the area.
“We are however, investigating the
allegation of the residents.”