Sales Girl Shot Dead, 3 Others Injured By Police.
A 20-year old sales girl identified simply as Lucy, was on Friday shot dead by policemen in the Apo area of Abuja.
The girl was hit in the chest by bullets fired into a photography shop where she worked as a sales girl.
Three other
people sustained gunshot injuries when policemen from the FCT Police
Command fired bullets indiscriminately in an attempt to enforce the
demolition order of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council.
The
policemen had stormed the area around 7 am with officials of Development
Control Department, who had come to demolish illegal structures.
But
residents and indigenes, who felt that the government had no right to
demolish their houses when they were yet to be resettled, resisted the
operation.
They claimed
that the case was still in court and that their leaders had advised
them to continue to live in the area pending the determination of the
suit.
As the
policemen shot indiscriminately to control the residents, bullets
penetrated into one of the shops and Lucy was hit in the chest. She was
rushed to Garki Hospital, but she was confirmed dead on arrival. Her
body has been deposited in the mortuary.
Meanwhile,
the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr. Wilson Inalegwu, met the House of
Representatives representing AMAC/Bwari constituency of the FCT,
Zephaniah Jisalo, at the hospital when he visited.
Inalegwu, who was in tears, assured the lawmaker that the case would be investigated.
“We are not sure what took our men there or what led to the shooting, it’s still a matter for investigation,” he said.
Emeka Ani,
owner of the photo shop, where the deceased worked, said that his sales
boy also sustained gunshot injuries during the incident.
He
said, “From morning, the police surrounded our area. They said they
came for demolition. All of a sudden, they started shooting
sporadically. They shot into my shop and killed my sales girl. My boy
also sustained injuries. Lucy has been with me for about one month. Her
sister brought her for me from Cross River.”
The National Coordinator, Greater Gbyagi Initiative, Mr. Gimba Baiza, described the incident as wicked.