The family of one of the officers of the Nigeria Police Force involved in providing security during the Anambra State governorship election, who were shot by some Nigerian Army personnel on Sunday in Onitsha while returning from election duty, has alleged a cover-up of the matter.
Agabi Yusuf, a brother of one of the injured police officers from Nasarawa state, told SaharaReporters on Monday that neither the Anambra State Police Command nor the Nasarawa State Police Command he has contacted provided clear details on the current status of the matter.
“My only surviving brother was shot yesterday in Anambra state by soldiers while returning from election duty. The Nigeria Police is trying to sweep it under the carpet and divert justice” Yusuf said.
“I need help to get justice. The PRO of Nasarawa state said he is not aware of the matter, that he only saw it on social media (this is exactly 24 hours after the incident), while the Anambra PRO is insisting that the matter has been resolved.
“I asked him the outcome of the resolution, and he said I should come to Anambra if I want to know,” he added.
SaharaReporters reported on Sunday, November 9, that the army personnel were involved in an argument with the policemen at a checkpoint along Onisha Road before opening fire on the police officers.
“Happening now on our way coming back from the Anambra State election, we had a misunderstanding with Army personnel at a military checkpoint.
“Before we knew what was going on, they opened fire on us. One of us was shot directly in his chest, with many other policemen were injured,” a policeman told SaharaReporters.
The police officer told SaharaReporters on Sunday that the issue had escalated to a riot to the extent that they called for backup.
Narrating what transpired, Yusuf, whose brother was shot in the chest, told SaharaReporters that the officers were returning to Nasarawa state after the election duty when the incident happened in Onitsha.
“They reached an army checkpoint, and the soldiers granted their convoy passage; then the other side also granted their cars passage.
“One luxurious bus scratched one of the vehicles the policemen were in. On questioning the soldiers why they allowed the other side to come in while they had waved them to pass, one of the soldiers got furious and started saying, “they are just police,” and he used the butt of his rifle to break one of the glasses in the policemen’s convoy,” Yusuf said.
According to him, the action of the soldier triggered the policemen’s anger, and all of them alighted and demanded that their car be repaired.
“The soldiers suddenly became confrontational and started firing in the air, but one of the soldiers just deliberately aimed into the crowd and opened fire, which hit my brother in the chest, slightly above the heart,” he said.
Unfortunately, Yusuf said that his efforts to get details of the case, including whether the soldier who shot his brother has been arrested, have failed as the Anambra and Nasarawa state police spokespersons are not providing any reasonable information on the matter.
“Now, the issue is that the police, for reasons best known to them, are avoiding holding the soldiers accountable and refusing to make the matter public on their official handles,” Yusuf told SaharaReporters.
“I called the State PRO for Nasarawa state in the morning, which is exactly 24 hours after the matter happened. The man reluctantly said he hadn’t heard about the matter; he only saw it online.
“I insisted that, considering his office, he can’t say he hasn’t heard an issue as delicate as this for the past 24 hours, but he just trivialised the matter as if it is nothing (maybe cause he thinks there is nothing I can do).”
In his further efforts, Yusuf said he called the police spokesperson of the Anambra state police command under whose jurisdiction the incident occurred, but he gave him a cold response and asked him to come to Anambra State if he wanted details on the matter.
“I then called the Anambra Police PRO, but he was trying to avoid the matter by just telling me that the matter has been resolved,” Yusuf said.
“I questioned him to tell me how it was resolved and the outcome, he then changed his words and said they are looking into the matter, that it takes a process before the Nigerian Army will release the soldier to them.
“And he is refusing to disclose any information that will be of help to us, the family, even though I properly introduced myself to him. He just said I should come to Anambra if I want to get any information.”
SaharaReporters contacted the Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, for comments on Yusuf’s allegations and explanations on the status of the matter.
However, though the police spokesperson read the message sent to him on WhatsApp, he has not responded as of the time of filing this report.
