Youths set fire to police stations after father of newborn is shot

Some young people in Ifonyintedo, Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State, set fire to two police stations on Wednesday. This happened after Owolabi Oniyiku, a father of a newborn, was allegedly killed at a police checkpoint in the area.

A community leader, who wanted to stay anonymous, told our reporter on Thursday that Oniyiku, who lived in Lagos, had come back to the community with friends to celebrate the Oro festival. It was during this visit that he was reportedly shot by police officers.

The shooting happened around Akinde Junction on the Ifonyintedo road. The community leader described the police setup there as a makeshift checkpoint. He claimed this spot had a bad reputation for harassing drivers and commercial motorcyclists, which had already upset local residents the day before.

He explained that after complaints from the community, police officers had launched an operation. Many commercial motorcyclists were reportedly arrested during this operation. "There is a police checkpoint, a makeshift shed there. It is not an official checkpoint. The police officers there usually harass people a lot. Every bike that passes through that area, they harass it."

He added that the police had taken about 15 motorcyclists during their crackdown. Oniyiku had been taking his friends back to Lagos after a visit to Ilashe when he was stopped by the police. It was then that the shooting happened.

"This guy who was killed was taking his friends to Ilashe. Maybe on his way back, they accosted him. Maybe they wanted to collect his bike from him; I don’t know what led to the argument, and the guy was killed straight away. He was not armed; he had nothing on him, and he was killed on the spot," the source alleged.

He noted that the killing was especially painful because Oniyiku’s wife had just given birth two days earlier. "And they said his wife just had a baby two days ago. So, it’s quite unfortunate," he said.

After the shooting, some youths took Oniyiku’s body to the police station. This led to rising tension in the area. The source claimed that this situation caused the burning of two police stations in the community.

One of the stations was a newly built community police station, while the other was an old, rundown station. Both were set ablaze by the angry youths.

The Ipokia Local Government Youth Forum has demanded an immediate investigation into Oniyiku’s death. In a statement signed by General Secretary Adeyemi Olusegun, the group claimed he was killed at an unauthorized checkpoint.

Olusegun called the incident "deeply disturbing" and asked for all police officers present at the checkpoint to be found and investigated. He insisted on a thorough investigation into how Oniyiku died and called for action against any officer found guilty.

The youth group also urged the police to reach out to Oniyiku’s family with an apology and condolences. They further demanded the dismantling of the illegal checkpoint where the tragedy occurred and other similar checkpoints along Ifonyintedo Road.

He said, "We demand disbandment of the illegal, unauthorized checkpoint where the incident happened and other illegal checkpoints along Ifonyintedo Road and provide empirical mandate, deployment order, and personnel attached to the checkpoint and rules governing their operations."

The group mentioned that locals have faced harassment, extortion, and abuse from some police officers in the area. They noted that Oniyiku’s death marked the third police-related killing of a youth in the area over three years, referring to the death of Adeleye Eniola in a previous incident.

The forum plans to protest at police stations in Ipokia to voice their anger over the ongoing killings of youths in the community. "We call on all our members, the people of Ifonyintedo, community leaders and other stakeholders to remain calm and law-abiding while demanding justice through legitimate and constitutional channels," the statement added.

They urged the Inspector-General of Police and the Ogun State Commissioner of Police to step in, stating that a fair investigation is needed to find out what really happened and to rebuild public trust. "The death of Mr Owolabi Oniyiku must not become another unresolved case as we deserve answers; likewise, his family deserves justice, and the community deserves accountability," Olusegun concluded.

Attempts to reach Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Babaseyi Oluseyi, for comments were unsuccessful. He did not respond to calls and messages sent on Thursday.

Meanwhile, a senior security officer in the area, who wished to remain unnamed, confirmed the incident but said he could not provide more details at the moment. "The incident happened, but I cannot give further details on it at the moment," the source said.