Police shot me, forced me to write that it was unknown gunmen, victims petitions Lagos panel

A victim of police brutal assault, Abayomi Likinyo who was allegedly shot by police officers from the Itire police station said after he was shot, the police forced him to write in his statement that he was shot by unknown gunmen and not by them.

In a two-page petition submitted on Saturday at the Lagos State Judicial panel of inquiring sitting at the Lagos Court of Arbitration in Lekki Lagos, Abayomi said he was shot at an accident scene in Lawanson by police officers led by Orukotan.

He stated that they promised to pay for his surgical operation as well as compensate him for the gunshot injury he sustained.

Once he had changed his statement, he said, the police reneged on the promise as he was abandoned at the hospital.

He wrote: “On March 16, 2012, there was an accident involving a Honda car and a motorcycle around Akinyemi Thompson Street, Lawanson. Then I was returning from work and people were gathered at the scene. The police officers from the Itire police station visited the scene and started shooting. They shot me in my right leg and they left.

“I was rushed to a nearby hospital by some Good Samaritan. The hospital requested for a police report before I could be treated. My brother went to the Itire police station to lodge a complaint and he was given the police report and I was referred to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH.

“At LASUTH, I was given a first aid treatment and was referred to the National Orthopaedic Hospital in Igbobi because there was no bed space. I was operated upon at Igbobi.

“Five days after I was admitted at Igbobi, Orukotan with some unidentified policemen from the Itire police station visited me. They told me to withdraw my earlier statement that I had written which indicted the police. They said I should write that I was shot by some unknown gunmen and not by the police.

“He said I should write that there were no police officers at the scene of the accident and that if I could do that, he would ensure that the police foot my surgical bill and compensate me for the injury sustained. He said the police had taken responsibility for the shooting but that I would need to withdraw my statement for them to pay my bills at the hospital.

“Since I couldn’t afford the surgical and hospital bill, I decided to change my statement and he paid N100,000 into the hospital’s account for them to commence the operation with a promise to balance up immediately after the surgery.

“Weeks after a successful operation, I didn’t see Orukotan. I decided to call him to inform him that the hospital had asked for more money to continue with my treatment. He paid N50,000 to the hospital and another N10,000 through a police officer, Edet Effiong totalling N160,000.

“But since after the payment, I was abandoned to source for the balance and pay for the last round of my operation. He stopped visiting me at the hospital and stopped picking my calls.

“The iron in my leg has been there for over four years, I couldn’t afford to go for the surgery to remove it. I have been calling Orukotan and Effiong but they didn’t pick my calls.

“I could neither walk properly nor engage in any strenuous activity because of the iron in my right leg which ought to have been removed.

“I sent several messages to the commandant and Orukotan but both of them ignored my messages. I have been sacked from my place of work on the ground of ill-health. I could not search for another job because of the iron in my right leg which requires a surgical operation for it to be removed.

“I am appealing to the Lagos Judicial Panel to compel the police to take responsibility for the financial cost of my surgery and also compensate me for the damage done to my overall health because since the bullet perforated my right limb, my life has no meaning.”

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