The girl found dead near the Yoruba Nation rally protest grounds on Saturday has been identified as Jumoke Oyeleke, a salesgirl at a yoghurt shop.
Her mother has insisted that the salesgirl was killed by a police bullet and she is calling on the authorities to ensure that justice is done.
Recall that news broke on Saturday that a stray bullet from the shootings at the protest grounds by the police hit a 14-year-old girl in front of her shop. It has now been established that the slain girl was actually 25 years of age.
Eye-witnesses claimed that some policemen fired gunshots, tear gas canisters and cannon water to disperse the demonstrators and journalists shortly after the rally took off.
Jumoke was reportedly displaying drinks at her boss’ shop in a compound close to the rally ground when security men chased some agitators onto the premises amid shootings.
Jumoke was said to have been struck at the back by the bullet which came out from her chest.
The mother of Jumoke, identified as Ifeoluwa, told the Punch on Sunday that the police threatened to shoot her when she demanded her daughter’s corpse.
She said, “I was not at home when the incident happened yesterday (Saturday). I went to work in Ikeja and was called to start coming home. When I got home, I was told that the bullets shot by the police killed my daughter.
“We immediately went to Area H Police Command in Ogudu and they started threatening us that if we stayed long at their entrance, they would shoot us. It was when they saw that we would not retreat that they invited my brothers inside. I have not seen her corpse since yesterday. The police at Area H said it’s not in their custody, that we should go to other stations to check.
“I want the police to release the corpse for burial because we don’t know where they dropped her. The police should speak the truth because she was killed by a bullet. The police lied that it was an abandoned corpse; we both left home around 7.30am yesterday to our different destinations.
“Jumoke is my first child and she was a very healthy and good child; a very hard-working girl that won’t complain if you ask her to do anything. She said she wanted to save money from the job she was doing so she could own her shop and become a better person in life, but that dream has been cut short now.
“I want the state government to fight for me and render whatever help they can to me. It has not been easy since yesterday; it has affected me in every way because she’s the one helping to cater for her siblings.”
Jumoke’s uncle, Wasiu Afolabi, disclosed that the family got to know about the incident through social media.
He said, “When we got to the police station, they didn’t allow us to enter until we started shouting, then they allowed two people to enter. When we entered, we met the DCO and he said he was not around when the incident happened, but asked us to go to the counter to drop our information and that they would get back to us. But my younger ones were not having it at all, so the area commander requested to see us and when we entered, he sympathised with us and said he heard that the bullet police shot hit the girl.
“He asked us to be patient so that the police could remove the bullet in her body and test it to know if it was from their station or other stations and he collected our details and said he would get back to us. About 30 minutes later when we got home, the area commander and the DPO came to visit the mother of the victim.
“What we heard now is that the police are saying it was not a bullet that killed her, but that she was stabbed. The woman that they were running together confirmed that she was beside her when the bullet pierced her and she fell on the ground. We want justice.”
Other accounts indicated that the police chased some of the protesters into the compound where the deceased died.
A witness, Ibrahim Taofeek, said, “I and a lady were sleeping on a chair around 11.30am while the girl that was murdered was arranging her yoghurts out there. When the police started firing tear gas and bullets in the air, many people rushed into the compound.
“It was the gunshots that the lady heard that made her run inside with others. I was not sure what was happening, so I hesitated a bit. But when I saw that everyone was fleeing, I also left the scene and ran inside.
“When I got inside the compound, I found her lying on the ground. I initially thought she fell while we were fleeing, so I continued running. It was along the way I met a boy who also fled with us that told me that the police shot the lady who was in the house.
“As we returned to check her, we saw people running towards us, saying the police are returning to the scene, so we fled again. It was when the pandemonium settled that we realised that it was this lady that was shot. It was then we carried her body outside and the police carried the corpse away.”
Another resident, who identified himself simply as Tanitolorun, said the bullet pierced the deceased from the back and came out from her chest.
“When we raised her body, we saw a bullet hole at her back. The bullet entered through her back and came out from her chest, close to her heart,” he added.
The Lagos State government has promised to investigate the incident. The state’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), in a statement on Sunday, said the state Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, had ordered an investigation into the death.
“The state assures the public that everything will be done to ensure that the cause of death is known. The findings of this investigation will be made public in due course and appropriate sanctions meted out to anyone found culpable,” the statement said.
