Posted by By PATRICIA ONYEKWERE & ADEBANJI TOSIN on
The family of a 16-year-old girl, who was allegedly killed by a stray bullet from a police gun, in the Mushin area of Lagos, is now demanding justice.
The family of a 16-year-old girl, who was allegedly killed by a stray bullet from a police gun, in the Mushin area of Lagos, is now demanding justice.
The victim, Folashade Akinbola, was said to have been hit by a stray bullet, which pierced through the window of their house and hit her on the back.
According to Mr. Omolaya Olayemi, who spoke to Daily Sun, Folashade, who was the first child in the family of four, was at home with three of her siblings when she met her untimely death.
He said: 'She was in the house that fateful day with three of her siblings, when, from nowhere, a bullet hit her on the back, and pierced through her. She didn't die immediately, but was rushed to three different hospitals, where she was rejected until she eventually gave up the ghost."
Olayemi told Daily Sun that trouble began after a governorship aspirant for Lagos State gave N50, 000 to a group of supporters, who trooped out to cheer him during his campaign tour of Mushin.
He said: 'He gave them N50,000, but when they couldn't share the money amicably among themselves, it resulted in a fight. Rather than the police use tear-gas to disperse the crowd, they started shooting sporadically into the crowd and in the process, the bullet entered through the window and pierced Folashade's back.
'Since the unfortunate incident, police have not deemed it necessary to come to the house to see the harm they caused the family. All effort to make them see reasons have fallen on deaf ears. It is a shock for us because here was a promising young girl, in SS 3. All her dreams and potentialities cut short. The bullet battered her back, that even if she had survived it, she might not be able to walk erect again."
Another family member, Mr. Adesokan Gbenga, who also spoke to Daily Sun, said that politicians do not care, even when a lot of lives have been lost in the cause of their campaigns.
The family, is however, calling on the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Sunday Ehindero, to fish out the killers and bring them to book.
The girl has since been buried.