A newly-married father of two, identified as Tochukwu Iro was reportedly been shot dead by a trigger-happy policeman.
According to DailyPost Tochukwu, 42, was shot on Wednesday by the
policeman, said to be from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad during a stop
and search by the operatives.
They were said to have received a tip off of drug dealers and were
mandated to stop and search anyone coming out of the Sabon Gari market.
However, when Augustine was stopped by the operatives, he declined.
This made one of the operatives, whose name was not ascertained as at
press time, to fire a shot at him. He was rushed to the hospital where
he gave up the ghost.
According to DailyPost, The state Police Public Relations Officer,
PPRO, DSP Musa Magaji, confirmed the report saying the command has
detained all the operatives on duty at the area the incident happened.
He said: “It is true. It happened two days ago in the afternoon along France Road, Sabon Gari, around the popular market.
“There is a particular area in the market where people
indulge in the use and sale of hard drugs. We have arrested many of them
including drug barons with cocaine and other drugs. So whenever we get
tip off, we do a stop and search any one coming out of the market.
“SARS operatives who were deployed to the area got a tip off and they conducted a stop and search.
“The deceased, Ugochukwu Augustine, was stopped but he
refused. The SARS operatives then chased him and one off the operatives
in the process used his firearm and shot at him.
“The bullet met him on his hip bone, he fell down. So
operatives took him to the Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital, Kano
and eventually he died.
“As soon as the information reached the Kano State Police
Commissioner, CP, Rabi’u Yusuf, he directed that the team leader and
his men be arrested and investigated.
“He quickly summoned a meeting with the Igbo elders’
community as well as drug sellers in Sabon Gari market. He assured them
that justice will be done.”
The PPRO added that at the moment, the team leader and his men are
all in detention at the Police Criminal Investigation Department, CID,
and full investigation has commenced.
Speaking further, he said, “The firearms given to the
policemen are not meant to kill innocent people. It is for protection of
lives. The CP will not condone any happy-trigger policeman who uses the
firearm against any innocent person. The reports from the investigation
would be made public on completion,”
Credit: DailyPost
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