Lasun Alagbe
Police in Abuja have disowned a security aide who shot a vendor in Abuja on Thursday.
The security man said to be in the convoy of Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, was said to have shot the victim, Ifeanyi Elechi, in the head when the vendor and other people rushed towards Gbajabiamila’s car to collect money he was to allegedly give them.
While the Speaker has yet to make a statement on the incident, the police said investigation was on but the alleged offender, whose identity has yet to be declared, was not a policeman.
The FCT Commissioner of Police, Bala Ciroma, was said to have ordered an investigation into the incident.
The command spokesperson, ASP Mariam Yusuf said in a statement: “The FCT Police Command wishes to unequivocally refute the allegation making the round sections of the media that a police officer attached to the convoy of the Speaker of the House of Representatives shot at a newspaper vendor within the Three Arms Zone on Thursday 19th November 2020.
“Contrary to the misleading information, a preliminary investigation into the unfortunate incident reveals that the security aide who shot at the vendor is not a member of the Nigeria Police Force.
“However, the Commissioner of Police FCT, Bala Ciroma has ordered a discreet investigation into the incident. While commiserating with the family and friends of the deceased, the Commissioner of Police wishes to guarantee members of the public that the command will be lucid in its investigation and ensure the findings are made public.”
Meanwhile, vendors in Abuja took to the street to protest Elechi’s death on Friday, with the Chairman of the Newspapers Vendors Association in FCT, Etim Eteng, saying the association would not allow the matter to be “swept under the carpet.”
Eteng stated, “We are gathered here today to demand justice for Elechi who was killed extra-judicially. Extrajudicial killing means the killing of an individual by a security operative without judicial proceedings and this is what has happened. The vendors association through their legal adviser are demanding justice.
“The overzealous security operative who killed Elechi must be brought to book; he must face the wrath of the law. We know that over time, judicial killings have been swept under the carpet but this time, the death of this innocent man who left his wife and new-born baby to look for his daily bread and was killed by an aide to the Speaker of the House of Reps must be probed and the killer brought to book.
“It was not an accidental discharge, he was shot in the head. It is not stray bullets, there are eyewitnesses. The spirit of Elechi would not rest until justice is done.”
