At least two persons were killed and many injured over the weekend after officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and operatives of the Lagos State funded security outfit, OP MESA, stormed the Akala area of Mushin in Lagos State to arrest Indian hemp smokers.
Among the injured were two soldiers, said to have been attacked by an angry mob in the area.
Four suspected Indian hemp smokers and sellers were arrested and about 541 kilogramme of cannabis and 32 pinches of heroin recovered at the Akala drugs joint.
The dead persons have been identified as Kehinde Olasunkanmi and a driver simply identified as Agbara.
Agbara was said to have been shot as he was just stepping out of his vehicle.
He died on the spot.
The law enforcement officers were on a routine raid of Akala, which is said to be a notorious drugs joint.
Eyewitnesses claimed that the law enforcement officers had completed the task and were on their way out when they were mobbed by irate residents.
Some of the residents had denied that the officers were attacked, which forced them to open fire.
One of the witnesses said: “Those officers only opened fire because they were scared that the youths in the area would attack them.
“When the youths saw the officers with gun, they only started shouting, but they did not attack the officers.
“We thought the officers were about to leave when suddenly, for no reason, they started shooting.”
The late Olasunkanmi was killed moments after he returned from watching a foreign football match at a viewing centre.
“The second deceased, Agbara, had just parked his commercial bus by the road side when a bullet hit him.
According to the Lagos Commander of the NDLEA, Sule Aliyu: “A combined team of NDLEA and army officers participated in the operation.
“It was a very successful raid because bags of cannabis weighing 541.9kg and 32 pinches of heroin were recovered.
“During the operation, there was an attack on the officers by a large number of hoodlums who threw bottles and stones at the officers.
“The road was also barricaded but the officers shot into the air to disperse the crowd.
“Two officers were injured and had been taken to hospital for treatment.”
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