The Public Relations Department of the 81, Division Headquarters of the Nigerian Army has exonerated the soldier, who killed Friday Ojeh at Jabital Hotel, Ikeja, as reported in the P.M.News of Wednesday, 28 October, 2009.

According to a statement signed by the Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, Lt.Col. K.A Umoh, “A group of OP-MESA patrol Number 5 were returning from Ilupeju, (where they had gone to effect repairs on their patrol vehicle), back to their base at Ogba. At the roundabout in the general area around Alade Market, they encountered a couple in distress who waved them down for intervention. The couple claimed that they had just been robbed.

“The patrol team stopped to investigate. The couple led them to a group of young men and identified one of them as the alleged suspect. Without giving the patrol team the opportunity to establish the facts, these group of young men threw caution to the wind and attempted to mob the soldiers. A scuffle ensued and one of them, the victim (later identified as Mr. Friday Ojeh), got into a struggle with one of the soldiers and attempted to disarm him. The struggle over the soldier’s weapon lasted over five minutes.

“The soldiers were clearly outnumbered and when it became obvious that if the struggle continued, the soldier’s weapon was going to be snatched or the soldier was going to be dispossessed or disarmed, the soldier had no choice than to fire a shot in order to extricate himself and his weapon. The shot caught the victim on his head at a point blank range, killing him instantly.

“The headquarters 81 Division of the Nigerian Army regrets this unfortunate incident and sympathises with the family of the deceased for this unfortunate but otherwise avoidable loss.”

Col. Umoh stated further that the division recognised the sanctity of lives and that attempts must be made to ensure that lives are not lost unnecessarily under avoidable circumstances. He stressed the importance of security in the sustenance and survival of Nigerian democracy.

Friday Ojeh, a bureau de change operator at Ikeja was shot and killed by a soldier at Jabita Hotel, Ikeja last Wednesday.

Ojeh was shot in the forehead by one of the soldiers who stormed the premises of Jabita Hotel, where Ojeh and others operate.

P.M. News gathered that Ojeh, who hailed from Kwale Local Government Area of Delta State, died instantly, with brain splattered on the floor.

The victim’s brother, Harrison, said: “I was not at the scene of the incident. It was the sound of gun blast that drew my attention and others to the scene, only to discover that my own brother had been shot dead.”

He also stated that Ojeh moved about two months ago to his newly completed house in Agbado crossing area, a boundary community between Lagos and Ogun states.

He narrated further: “There was a crisis here on Friday when a lady who came to patronise a bureau de change operator here said she was short-changed. But that had been resolved. It was not even my brother who short-changed the lady.

“Two soldiers with a lady came this evening (yesterday). Eyewitnesses told me that soldiers asked for his own share of the deal that took place on Friday. My brother explained to him that he was not involved and that there was nothing left for him.

“As my brother tried to explain to them, the soldier who shot him did not listen. He pushed him back and shot him on the forehead. After that, the soldiers strolled down to Alade market where they were posted.”

The soldiers and the woman who claimed to have been short changed were later arrested and later taken to Area ‘F’ Police Command Ikeja.