MOPOL Kills Bus Conductor

A Mobile Policeman attached to MOPOL 50, Abuja, on Wednesday evening shot dead a bus conductor at Ketu Bus Stop along Ikorodu Road in Lagos, southwest Nigeria, triggering a riot and pandemonium in the area.

The busy Ikorodu Road was deserted after the killing and passersby ran helter-skelter to avoid being hit by stray bullets.

The shooting took place just minutes to 6pm, a period when the highway is clogged with traffic.

The policeman reportedly came to Lagos from Abuja on an official duty.

A police source said the policeman had an argument with the bus conductor on the way to Ketu and that in the heat of the argument, the policeman brought out his service pistol and shot the conductor at close range. He died on the spot.

“Some policemen around immediately disarmed the officer, arrested him and took him to Alapere police station, where he was detained before he was taken to the state CID Panti,” the source said.

Policemen later came and picked the dead body up and sped away, shooting in the air to scare away angry drivers and conductors.

The State Police Command Spokesperson, Ngozi Braide, did not return our call and text message.Not long ago, a policeman in Lagos was said to have shot dead Ugochukwu Ozuah who had got married few days earlier. Police blamed armed robbers for the killing.

A Lagos judge recently sentenced a policeman to death by hanging for a similar offence.

—Simon Ateba