Recounts Ordeal
- Safiu Kehinde
Odunayo Alade, father of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) candidate killed by stray bullet fired by a policeman, has broken silence as he demanded justice for his son.
NPO Reported that the student, Kehinde Alade, was hit by the stray following his father’s attempt to evade arrest after breaching traffic regulation by plying one-way along Gbagi market road, Ibadan, in Oyo state.
Kehinde was rushed to a nearby hospital before being pronounced dead at the University College Hospital (UCH).
While the incident, which occured yesterday, had sparked public outrage and protest, the state Police Command, in a statement issued by its spokesperson, Osifeso Adewale, explained the circumstances that led to the death of the student.
The Command explained that Odunayo recklessly maneuvered through a joint traffic enforcement team’s barricade, hitting the police patrol van and the Oyo State Traffic Management Authority’s (OYTMA) vehicle in the process.
This led to the chase and eventual death of Kehinde who was hit by a stray bullet targeted at the tyres of his father’s car.
Addressing newsmen in an interview shared on X on Wednesday, Odunayo recounted how the incident occured.
While admitting to his attempt to evade arrest, he demanded for justice for his son.
“One of them just came to block me. He hit my car. Then I put the car on reverse just to bypass. I didn’t know they were up to four or five.
“Then the other one, their towing vehicle hit my car again. Then I just tried to. As I managed to escape them, next I heard gunshot.
This particular boy (Kehinde) was shouting in the vehicle. I was trying to caution him that he should keep quite that we’ve left the place and there is no problem, not knowing that the bullet hit the boy.
“It was his twin brother that said Daddy stop Paul has been shot. So as I parked to bring the boy out, those policemen and OYTMA came after me. I held one of the police trousers. People now gathered together. They rushed to Welfare hospital. From that hospital, they used their own ambulance to take him down to UCH. I want justice.” he said.
Also recounting the incident was his friend who was in the car with him.
The man who claimed to be a medical doctor disclosed that the one of the officials attempted to drag the steering from his friend while challenging him for driving reckless.
He claimed the officials knew that children were in the vehicle.
“One of them came and tried to open the door and dragged the steering with the driver. And tried to open my own door too. Immediately they said you are carrying children and you are driving rough. So, they knew we were carrying children to school. They saw them in uniform.
“Then the next thing we hear was a gunshot. W e heard the gunshot and we were thinking maybe they released bullet to scare people away. When we moved for some maybe five seconds, the boy was shouting they’ve shot me. So I looked at the back. The back screen was not broken.
“We were even thinking they scared as all the children were making them down. Then I looked at him ans saw him gasping.
“So I told him (driver) that he stopped the vehicle, the elder brother was soaked in blood. I took him out. He was gasping already.” he said.
Meanwhile, the Police Command had since arrested the officer who shot at the vehicle while assuring the public of ensuring justice.