A commercial truck driver is battling to save his leg after he was shot by a police officer at a checkpoint along the Ketu-Epe-Ikorodu Road in Lagos.
The victim, Peter Francis, was returning home from
work on June 12, 2026, when officers attached to the Ketu-Ereyun Divisional
Police Station stopped his vehicle.
According to his lawyer, Olatunji Ajayi, Francis
complied after officers instructed him to switch on his vehicle’s interior
light.
He noted that an officer identified as Ibrahim
allegedly demanded a ₦500 bribe, but Francis explained that he had spent his
remaining cash on food, which was on the back seat of the Toyota Corolla.
“Without any provocation, a police officer
identified as Ibrahim, who was part of the team, opened fire on the vehicle
occupied by Mr. Peter Francis and his friend. One of the bullets struck Mr.
Peter Francis in the leg, causing severe injuries and leaving him in
excruciating pain,” the lawyer said.
He further alleged that the “officers fled the
scene immediately after realising Francis had been hit,” leaving the injured
driver without assistance.
The gunshot reportedly attracted military personnel
attached to the Lagos State Food and Logistics Hub, who “pursued the fleeing
officers to their nearby police station, brought them back to the scene and
directed them to take the victim to the hospital.”
According to him, Francis was allegedly turned away
by two hospitals before he was eventually admitted to the 68 Nigerian Army
Reference Hospital in Yaba, where he underwent emergency surgery.
The Lagos Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO(, Superintendent of
Police Abimbola Adebisi, confirmed
the shooting but stated that the official police narrative differs
significantly from the version being presented by the victim and his lawyer.
“The officers involved have been detained for
further questioning,” she said.
When asked about a meeting between the victim’s
lawyer and Lagos State Commissioner of Police Fatai Tijani, as well as a
petition filed on the matter, she said, “I cannot confirm that now.”
The Divisional Police Officer of the Ketu-Ereyun
Divisional Police Station, CSP Kalu Chijioke, countered the lawyer’s account,
claiming instead that the victim is a criminal suspect.
“On June 12 at about 21.10hrs, our officers were on
a stop and search duty opened because of a government school close by. We are
on the Lagos-Ogun border.
“This driver came in with a Camry (Muscle) with a
female passenger in the driver seat. And according to the account of the senior
officer who led the team, ASP Oguniyi said the vehicle was stopped and he
complied.
“When he was approached, he sped off knocking down
Oguniyi, brushing another and was rushing towards Corporal Tijani Ibrahim to
ram him down, using the vehicle as a weapon, before the latter shot,” the DPO
stated.
According to the DPO, Corporal Ibrahim fired at the
speeding car, with the bullet ultimately striking Francis in the lower part of
his knee.
“This is a case of attempted murder and assault of
a police officer in his line of duty and unlawful possession of substances
suspected to be illicit drugs,” the DPO in his account hinted.
Denying claims that his men fled the scene, CSP
Kalu maintained that the officers immediately began arranging to transport the
wounded driver to the hospital. According to him, a group of the victim’s
colleagues (“motor boys”) soon stormed the station threatening to burn it down.
“That was when the soldiers accosted them to ask if
our officers needed help—which was politely rejected—noting that the situation
was immediately contained and that medical attention was provided to the
victim,” Kalu said.
The DPO also confirmed that Francis was
subsequently taken to two different hospitals, both of which refused to admit
him, before he was finally accepted at the military hospital based on his
intervention.
He then detailed the events that followed, lasting
until Friday, as police struggled to secure the victim’s official statement and
account of the incident.
“The records are there. He was referred from the
first hospital to another, which refused to admit him. The victim’s life was
the priority, and that was when I contacted the military hospital where he was
eventually operated on. In fact, when we were unable to get an ambulance, we
used our patrol vehicle.
“It was the 68 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital,
Yaba, that admitted him, and he underwent surgery there. After the necessary
tests, I donated blood and even made payment so his treatment could continue.
“All efforts to obtain personal statements from the
lady and the victim after treatment have been futile as we speak.
“We’ve also spoken to the lawyer who came here and
told him to give his client a statement form to fill out now that the incident
is still fresh in his memory and he has received medical attention, but he
refused.
“Our concern is that he gets better. Only then can
we take the case to trial,” he said.
However, Francis’ lawyer stressed that his client
was a law-abiding citizen returning from work and had documents proving his
delivery assignment.
“Mr. Peter Francis is not a criminal suspect,” he
said.
He disclosed that the shooting has left Francis
unable to move the affected leg, with doctors recommending reconstructive
plastic surgery to repair damaged blood vessels.
According to the lawyer, the financial burden
includes: “₦1,126,600 in outstanding medical bills already incurred at the
military hospital and ₦10 million estimated for corrective plastic surgery.”
The lawyer stated, “The total medical cost is
estimated at more than ₦11.1 million.”
The lawyer also confirmed that the Divisional
Police Officer of the Ketu-Ereyun Divisional Police Station, CSP Kalu Chijioke,
visited Francis in hospital, donated blood, and transferred ₦400,000 to the
victim’s bank account on June 15, 2026.
“The Divisional Police Officer… donated blood to
Mr. Peter Francis and personally transferred the sum of ₦400,000 into his
personal bank account. This conduct further suggests an acknowledgment of
responsibility for the incident,” he stated.
However, he insisted that the gesture does not
absolve the Nigeria Police Force of responsibility.
He called on the police authorities to cover all
medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, and compensation for the victim.
“In the circumstances, we respectfully call on the
Nigeria Police Force to take full responsibility for the treatment,
rehabilitation and all medical expenses incurred by Mr. Peter Francis as a
result of the reckless and unlawful shooting of an unarmed and innocent
civilian by one of its officers.
“Justice must be done, and adequate compensation
must be provided to Mr. Peter Francis for the physical, emotional and financial
trauma he has suffered,” the lawyer also concluded.
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