1 killed, 3 injured at Lagos petrol station

A 35-year-old man selling ‘black market’ petrol was yesterday shot dead in front of the Forte Oil Petrol Station located on 21 Road, FESTAC Town in Lagos.
He was allegedly killed via a bullet fired from the rifle of a female personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
It was gathered that the NSCDC personnel was part of the task force, in conjunction with the police, mandated to restore sanity to 21 Road following the chaos created by fuel queue at the petrol station after it was allegedly taken over by hoodlums who sold fuel in jerry cans.
Three other people were also left seriously injured after being hit by the stray bullets from the rifle of the female security personnel who allegedly shot indiscriminately to disperse the fuel ‘black marketers.’
The deceased, simply identified as Dijo, was allegedly left on the ground in a pool of his blood after he was shot, leading to him bleeding to death.
An eyewitness said prior to the arrival of the security officials, the ‘hoodlums’ were all over themselves, struggling to buy fuel to sell to desperate motorists at exorbitant prices. The witness alleged that on arrival, the security operatives had attempted to confiscate some of the products already purchased by the ‘hoodlums’, an action which they rebuffed.
It was in the process that the female NSCDC personnel allegedly released the gunshots. The ‘hoodlums’ allegedly mobilised to retaliate the attack, but the security operatives were swiftly whisked away to safety.
Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos who confirmed the death of the petrol seller, denied the claim of some of the ‘hoodlums’ that the police were also involved in the attack on them. She said, “There is no police involvement. The report on ground at AP (Forte Oil) Filling Station is that some NSCDC men in a patrol vehicle had scuffle with some men at the filling station which led to indiscriminate firing. One person was shot dead while three others were severely injured. The Area Commander Area E is on ground restoring normalcy while the command has commenced investigation to identify the NSCDC operatives that were involved.”
In a separate development, scores of people were yesterday injured in an auto crash involving a tanker and several vehicles at the Ojodu-Berger area of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
The tanker carrying 33,000 litres of petrol had a break failure while descending the Otedola Bridge, before crashing into the vehicles. The driver ran away immediately the vehicle came to a stop.
Mr Razaq Fadipe, Director, Lagos State Fire Service, who confirmed the incident to Daily Trust, said, “The tanker crashed into many vehicles while descending the Otedola Bridge, causing multiple injuries.”