Ogun labourer shot dead as soldiers clash with officials over demolition exercise

Forum 1 month ago

Ogun labourer shot dead as soldiers clash with officials over demolition exercise

A yet-to-be identified military officer has allegedly shot to death a labourer working with the Ogun State Government during a demolition exercise at Orile-Imo along the Sagamu-Abeokuta Expressway on Monday.

The deceased, Oluwaseyi Adeoye, was a member of the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development team tasked with demolishing unlawful buildings in the neighbourhood.

According to sources, ministry workers and officials led by one Mr Hamzat, stormed the site to enforce demolition orders, but were thwarted by military personnel stationed there.

Waploadedgathered that the soldiers on ground objected to the demolition leading to confrontation and disagreement the labourers and the military personnel.

Recounting the incident, one of the labourers named Makinde Ibrahim, said the soldier opened fire in anger.

“When we got to the site, the team engaged the engineer on ground who begged but he insisted that the demolition must be carried out.

“He ordered us to pull down three coaches. But one soldier barked at us and asked us to leave. But the team leader insisted that we must carry out.

“We were accompanied by seven police officers but they couldn’t do anything. They (soldiers) actually wanted to kill everyone but we had to scamper for safety,” Ibrahim said.

According to eyewitnesses, a bullet struck Adeoye during the chaos, and he reportedly died on the spot with his corpse deposited at the State General Hospital Morgue in Ijaye, Abeokuta.

Reacting to the incident, Chairman of the Concrete Dealers Association, Kolawole Obadeyi, blamed the demolition team leader for the clash, opining that they should have left on seeing the soldiers.

“When they got there and discovered there were soldiers at the location, they ought to have retreated.

“Most times, what ought to have happened is to call for more reinforcement so that the demolition will not turn bloody. We have been working with the ministry for about 38 years now.

“It was shocking that we lost Oluwaseyi because of N10,000 daily job. He only went out to earn a living. This is unfortunate” he added.

Also the Police Public Relations Officer, Oluseyi Babaseyi, stated that investigations were ongoing to unravel all information surrounding the death.

“I can confirm that someone that is attached to the Ministry of Planning was shot dead. I can also confirm that an investigation is ongoing to get to the root of the incident.

“That’s all I can confirm. Every other thing, investigations will unravel it with time,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Tunji Odulami, stated that efforts are ongoing to identify the soldier, describing the incident as unfortunate.

The commissioner expressed his sympathy with the family of the deceased and promised that the government would compensate them.

“Right now, we are reaching out to all the security agencies around to adequately identify them and who they are.

“They can’t just come from on the moon, they need to identify them and then follow the other processes to ensure that they get to the root of the matter,” he said.