Man shot dead by police officer who tried to jump fuel queue in Lagos

A police officer has gunned down a Lagos resident who prevented him from jumping the queue to buy fuel at a Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) filling station at Obalende in the Ikoyi area of Lagos State.

Toheeb Eniafe was in the queue to get petrol on Wednesday evening, May 1, when two men, said to be police officers, attempted to drive into the station to buy petrol even though they were not in the queue to get the product.

This attempt by the police officers to jump the queue was met with stiff resistance from people in the queue who had been waiting for hours. 

Eniafe was at the forefront of the resistance, telling the men to join the queue like everyone else. 

This degenerated into a physical fight and one of the men shot Eniafe before fleeing the scene.

An angry mob was said to have chased and caught up with one of the officers but he later escaped after firing shots in the air. 

On Thursday, May 2, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed that the person who shot Eniafe is a policeman.

Hundeyin said: "The person behind the shooting has been identified as a police officer serving at Special Protection Unit (SPU) Base 17, Lion Building, Lagos. 

“Investigation is still ongoing and further findings will be made available.

“Meanwhile, the Lagos State Police Command is working with the family of the deceased to ensure that there is no miscarriage of justice.”