A yet-to-be identified military personnel has allegedly shot one Oluwaseyi Adeoye, a labourer working with the Ogun State Government.
The incident, happened during a demolition exercise carried out by a team from the Ministry of Physical and Urban Development at Orile-Imo along the Sagamu-Abeokuta Expressway.
The victim it was gathered was part of the team ordered to pull down illegal structures in the area.
However, there was a resistance from the soldiers stationed at the site, a development that was said to have led to an altercation.
The confrontation was said to have degenerated into disagreement as the State government officials insisted in carrying out the demolition order.
A soldier, according to one of the labourers, who identified himself as Makinde Ibrahim, said one of the soldiers angrily opened fire, which led to the death of Adeoye.
“They actually wanted to kill everyone but we have to scamper for safety.
“When we got to the site, the team engaged the engineer on ground who begged but he insisted that the demolition must be carried out.
“He ordered us to pull down three coaches. But one soldier barked at us and asked us to leave. But the team leader insisted that we must carry out the order.
“We were accompanied by seven police officers but they couldn’t do anything.”
According to eyewitnesses, a bullet struck Adeoye during the chaos, and he reportedly died on the spot. His remains have since been deposited at the State General Hospital Morgue in Ijaye, Abeokuta.
Reacting to the incident, Chairman of the Concrete Dealers Association, Kolawole Obadeyi, blamed the demolition team leader for the clash.
“We have been working with the ministry for decades and usually there will be clashes on the site but I have the team leaders to blame in this case,” Obadeyi said.
“When they got there and discovered there were soldiers at the location, they ought to have retreated. Most times, what ought to have happened is to call for more reinforcement so that the demolition will not turn bloody. We have been working with the ministry for about 38 years now.
“It was shocking that we lost Oluwaseyi because of N10,000 daily job. He only went out to earn a living. This is unfortunate.”
Obadeyi also called on the government to compensate the deceased’s family.
“We would like to know what the government will do for his family as a compensation for the live lost. We don’t want a situation whereby the body will be buried and nothing will come out from the government,” he said.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Oluseyi Babaseyi, confirmed the incident, stating that investigations were ongoing.
“I can confirm that someone that is attached to Ministry of Planning was shot dead. I can also confirm that investigation is ongoing to get to the root of the incident.
“That’s all I can confirm. Every other thing, investigations will unravel it with time,” he said.
Also speaking, Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Tunji Odulami, described the killing as unfortunate and assured that security agencies had been contacted.
“Right now, we are reaching out to all the security agencies around to adequately identify them and who they are. They can’t just come from on the moon, they need to identify them and then follow the other processes to ensure that they get to the root of the matter.
“But more importantly, that such a thing does not happen again,” he said.
The commissioner commiserated with the family of the deceased and promised that the government would compensate them.