Posted by By Vincent Ukpong on
The event of the wee hours of last Sunday will forever live with Musa Abdullahi, a police constable attached to the Alade Police Division, Shomolu, Lagos, who escaped death by the whiskers in the hands of armed robbers.
The event of the wee hours of last Sunday will forever live with Musa Abdullahi, a police constable attached to the Alade Police Division, Shomolu, Lagos, who escaped death by the whiskers in the hands of armed robbers.
If that close shave with death does not scare the wit out of him all through his life, it may be that he employs his training as a force man to suppress it.
In response to the persistent cry of insecurity of lives and property in Lagos and the challenge of the police to live up to expectation, a team of anti robbery squad from Alade Police Division was on patrol in the Shomolu neighbourhood with the Ford van provided the formation by former governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Tinubu.
The team comprising five police officers got to Bajualaye area and was conducting the routine stop and search. According to Abdullahi, at about 12.30 am on the fateful day, they had stopped a car that had one occupant. The driver of the car came down as they were searching the vehicle and started making telephone calls. Not quite long after, another vehicle arrived and beamed its light on us, and almost immediately, there was a staccato of gun shots from that second vehicle, while the car we were searching zoomed off immediately. According to him, the occupants of the vehicles were armed with sophisticated guns as they continued to shoot in every direction.
When some of the bullets hit his hand and his belly, his training instinct became alert; he fell down and rolled to a place that shielded him. The robbers thought he had died. By then his colleagues having been overwhelmed by the superior firepower of the robbers scampered for safety. The robbers did not spare the patrol van. It was riddled with bullets and demobilized. It was after the gun duel had ended that his colleagues came to his rescue, by then he was almost bleeding to death. He was placed at the intensive care unit of a private hospital where doctors battled to safe his life. Pellets lodged in his belly and left hand were extracted.
Donating to save colleague
Musa's case brings to limelight the unfortunate situation and low morale of the Nigerian policeman. A senior police officer told Saturday Sun that a policeman that is wounded while on duty is on his own and it is almost an impossible task to get money from the force for embalment and mortuary services when a cop dies in such circumstances. Most times, the colleagues of such victim usually come to the rescue.
Musa is currently facing the same problem as only his colleagues have taxed themselves to raise money to save his life. Each of them is contributing about N5, 000 to pay for the hospital bill and for other laboratory diagnosis and x-ray.
'The police who is under obligation to confront dare devil robbers are not equipped. None of the police personnel that went with Musa had bullet-proof vests", another officer revealed.