Tears, Sorrow As Sales Girl Dies From Gunshot By Trigger Happy Policemen

Everyday you go out, pray to God that he protects
your going out and coming in because the evil
that lurks, is just beyond human understanding.
Pray against false accusations, pray against Boko
Haram attacks, pray against stray bullets from
police, just pray!
If anyone had told Lucy, a 20-year old sales girl in
the Apo area of Abuja that she would die from a
stray bullet shot to her chest, she’d quickly forbid
it and make a sign of the cross probably. But
that’s exactly what happened on Friday when she
was shot dead by policemen. The girl was hit in
the chest by bullets fired into a photography
shop where she worked as a sales girl.
Three other people sustained gunshot injuries
when policemen from the FCT Police Command
fired bullets indiscriminately in an attempt to
enforce the demolition order of the Abuja
Metropolitan Management Council.
The policemen had stormed the area around 7
am with officials of Development Control
Department, who had come to demolish illegal
structures.
But residents and indigenes, who felt that the
government had no right to demolish their
houses when they were yet to be resettled,
resisted the operation.
They claimed that the case was still in court and
that their leaders had advised them to continue
to live in the area pending the determination of
the suit.
As the policemen shot indiscriminately to control
the residents, bullets penetrated into one of the
shops and Lucy was hit in the chest. She was
rushed to Garki Hospital, but she was confirmed
dead on arrival. Her body has been deposited in
the mortuary.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner of Police,
Mr. Wilson Inalegwu, met the House of
Representatives representing AMAC/Bwari
constituency of the FCT, Zephaniah Jisalo, at the
hospital when he visited.
Inalegwu, who was in tears, assured the
lawmaker that the case would be investigated.
“We are not sure what took our men there or
what led to the shooting, it’s still a matter for
investigation,” he said.
Emeka Ani, owner of the photo shop, where the
deceased worked, said that his sales boy also
sustained gunshot injuries during the incident.
He said, “From morning, the police surrounded
our area. They said they came for demolition. All
of a sudden, they started shooting sporadically.
They shot into my shop and killed my sales girl.
My boy also sustained injuries. Lucy has been
with me for about one month. Her sister brought
her for me from Cross River.”
The National Coordinator, Greater Gbyagi
Initiative, Mr. Gimba Baiza, described the incident
as wicked.
-PUNCH