A commercial motorcyclist has sued the Ondo State government after losing his leg to a gunshot injury inflicted on by the officers of the state’s security network agency code-named Amotekun.
Thirty-six-year-old Oluwarotimi Oluwasegun said the Amotekun men shot him at Araromi area of Akure, the Ondo State capital, on 9 August 2021, leading to the amputation of his left leg about a month after.
Some photographs attached to the suit showed him in a sitting position with a pair of crutches and his black shorts revealing the tip of the stump of his amputated left leg.
Some of the photographs also showed him standing on his right leg, his body decked in an orange polo shirt and propped up by his crutches, while the stump of the amputated leg was hidden under his shorts.
The Okada rider, as commercial motorcyclists are popularly called, sued for N100 million compensation at the Ondo State High Court in Akure.
His lawyer, Tope Temokun, filed the suit on 28 October, over one year after the incident happened.
Mr Temokun filed the suit after receiving a 26 October 2022 reply of the state government to his complaint letter, alleging that his client was arrested while the Amotekun officers were on a trail of kidnap and armed robbery suspects.
Mr Oluwasegun described the state government’s claim as “a wicked lie” in his affidavit filed in support of his suit. Sued along with Ondo State government as co-defendants are the state’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice and the State Security Network Agency (Amotekun).
The married man and father of two boys – nine-year-old Samuel and six-year-old Oluwadarasimi – said the attack on him by the Amotekun officers between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. of the fateful day in Akure was unprovoked.
How attack happened
He said a passenger had just alighted from his motorcycle at a neighbourhood in Araromi, Akure, when an Amotekun’s van suddenly swerved towards him by the roadside and the occupants began to shoot into the air as the vehicle came to a stop.
He said people around, scared by the gunshots, fled, but he stood back.
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source: premium times
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