‘I watched as cops shot my son dead’

But that was never to be as a trigger happy policeman allegedly snuffed life out of the 25-year-old man, a native of Opubo Nkoro in Rivers State. The fact that late Victor had dreamt of becoming a successful lawyer in future may have explained his intolerance of corruption and injustice meted out to innocent road […]

But that was never to be as a trigger happy policeman allegedly snuffed life out of the 25-year-old man, a native of Opubo Nkoro in Rivers State. The fact that late Victor had dreamt of becoming a successful lawyer in future may have explained his intolerance of corruption and injustice meted out to innocent road users as he attempted to caution the policemen on duty to desist from the ungodly act, only, to be shot dead.

 

Eyewitness account had it that the late Victor made certain remarks when he saw the policemen extorting money from Okada riders and other road users, telling them that their action was wrong and asked that if they encountered armed robbers whether they would face them.

The witness said Victor further rebuked the policemen, by saying that “even on Sundays, why won’t they go to church and leave extortion?”

His guts was said to have infuriated the cops and they chased, caught and shot him severally to death.

The deceased’s mother, Mrs. Grace Victor, who is still in shock over the gruesome murder of her son, managed to narrate the incident which took place October 16.

She said “my son went to church with me on Sunday, October, 16, 2011. After the close of church, I took a commercial motorbike and, not far from where I took off, I heard gun shots. I was scared and told the bike operator to stop for us to take cover.

“All of a sudden, I saw my son running and was being chased by the police. Police vans were parked on both sides of the road. And when I discovered that it was my son they were chasing and about shooting, I ran towards one of their officers close to one of the vans. I pleaded with him that the boy is my son; he is a brother [meaning a believer]. By this time they were cocking the guns. And, by the time the officer I approached could signal his colleagues to stop, they were already shooting at my son,”   the woman wept.

Continuing amidst sobs, she said, “I saw them with my two eyes shooting at my son, no mercy at all, they shot him brutally. As he fell while they were shooting him, the tallest of them all still continued shooting at him on the ground to his satisfaction before he stopped. My son was holding a bible when he was shot. I rushed, as a mother, to go and attend to him but they threatened that if I don’t move back, they will shoot me. That made me to shift back. I did not see any of the policemen with any stain of blood then, but they just picked his bible and drove off. It was another police vehicle that came and picked him.”

The deceased’s mother was however not at the scene of the argument that ensued between the police and her son as she only caught up with the event when she saw her son running.

The spokesman of the Bayelsa State Police Command, Equaveon Emokpae, confirmed the incident but claimed that the deceased was apprehended smoking Indian hemp and that he attempted to disarm the policemen who mounted a road block at the Sani Abacha expressway with a pair of scissor.

The process of the attack, according to the police, led to the struggle that ensued between two of the policemen and the late 25-year-old Emmanuel who eventually died from the injury sustained in the course of the scuffle.

Emokpae said the said policemen were also badly injured and were currently being treated at an undisclosed hospital in Yenagoa.

The Civil Liberties Oganisation (CLO), in the state has disagreed with the police position. Morriss Alagoa, secretary to the organisation, in a press statement made available to Weekly Trust, argued that no matter what happened, even though police statement claimed that the boy was smoking hemp and tried to fight them when they challenged him, it is doubtful that a 25-year-old young man could be trying to over-power all those police officers who chased him.

“Was it proper to shoot at an unarmed Nigerian? Has the police the right to pass judgment and also sentence to death? These are few of the questions that the CLO and concerned Nigerians would like the police authorities to answer,” the human rights body queried.

The CLO called on the Commissioner of Police in the state to, as a matter of urgency, institute an investigation into the matter and take disciplinary action against the officers and men who carried out the killing of a fellow citizen, stressing that law abiding Nigerians cannot continue to be killed by the very police paid to protect them.

“We want this extra-judicial killing to stop and the perpetrators to face the law. In this wise, the CLO is calling on all well meaning Nigerians to rise against, not only to condemn the act, but assist fight for justice. The Inspector-General of Police should call his men in Bayelsa State to order and ensure that those found wanting are punished without delay”, CLO said.