Man shot dead during fuel queue tumult in Lagos over scarcity

The family of a young man, Toheeb Eniasa, has been thrown into mourning after he was shot at a petrol station belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited at Obalende in the Ikoyi area of  Lagos State.

The incident happened late Wednesday and has left residents in the area in fear.

Our correspondent, who is currently at the scene of the incident gathered from residents that Eniasa was in the queue to get petrol when the incident happened.

While in the queue, two men, believed to be military officers, attempted to drive into the station to buy petrol even though they were not in the queue to get the product.

This, our correspondent learnt, was met with stiff resistance from people in the queue; many of whom had been waiting for hours.

Several eyewitnesses confirmed that Eniasa spearheaded the argument, telling the men to join the queue like everyone else.

This further degenerated into a fisticuff and the eventual death of the young man after one of the men shot him and fled the scene.

Nigerians have been struggling to buy fuel in the last few days.

The scarcity has led to an increase in transport fares and queues at various filling stations selling the product.

A resident, who gave his name as Mr. Amos Ayo, who said he witnessed the incident, alleged that the officers were from the Department of State Services as they had their branded polo shirts.

Ayo narrated, “I saw them. They are men of the DSS. They came to the scene to buy fuel but refused to join the queue.

“That is what they always do. It was not Toheeb’s turn yet but he confronted them, asking them to join the queue or be polite about the way they went about the purchase.

“One of them was so impatient. He slapped Toheeb and he retaliated with more words. Before we could know it, we heard gunshots and Toheeb fell to the ground.”

A woman who said she was clearing up her alcoholic bitters stand close to the station but refused to give her name for security reasons, told our correspondent that she heard the gunshot at about 9.30 p.m. and fled the scene.

She said, “I did not even wait to see what was happening. I ran as fast as I could before any stray bullet will hit me. But, I heard from the people who were there that it was two soldiers.

“They are not policemen. One shot the young man and ran away. I learnt they caught one but he still managed to escape eventually.”