The family of a young man, Toheeb Eniafe, 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, our correspondent learnt, 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 Eniafe 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 Eniafe 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.”
END.