Nigerian Policeman Kills Colleague While Firing At Protesters
A policeman whose name has yet to be ascertained has killed one of his colleagues while shooting at peaceful protesters in Katsina State.
Multiple videos on Friday show the deceased man in his uniform lying in a pool of blood after being shot by his colleague.
“In the peak of unprofessionalism, a careless policeman killed his colleague and harm civilians in Katsina,” an X user, A.O. Yusuf captioned the videos.
Commenting on it, another user, Salako said, “This is a very sad & unfortunate watch. It is also evident that the Nigerian Police Force are the cascading indices of violence in the ongoing protests.
“If this video evidence didn’t exist, Ben Hundeyin & Muyiwa would have blamed it on protesters.
“A national squad of clowns.”
The police have not published an official statement on this incident, and attempts made by SaharaReporters to obtain comments from the State Police Spokesman, ASP Sadiq Aliyu, on it were unsuccessful.
When contacted by SaharaReporters, he did not deny or confirm the incident.
“Let me call you back,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), earlier lamented that police officers were killed and injured during the #EndBadGovernance protest on Thursday.
Egbetokun said, “In light of the current situation, the Nigeria Police Force has placed all units on red alert. Our officers are fully mobilised and prepared to respond swiftly and decisively to public safety and order.”
“Police stations have been destroyed. There have been attempts to take over government houses. In places like FCT, Kaduna, Kano and Gombe, among others, we recorded incidents of unprovoked attacks on our security personnel where one policeman has been reported murdered and others seriously injured,” he added.
The Katsina state government had also imposed a 24-hour curfew in Dutsinma LGA via a statement issued on Friday, by Abdullahi Garba-Faskar, secretary to the state government.
The statement also banned unusual gatherings and all types of protests across the state.
“The acting governor had earlier received a group of civil society organizations who were on a peaceful demonstration at the government house and pledged to deliver their messages to the appropriate authority,” the statement reads.
“However, later government received reports that some miscreants had hijacked the protest and unleashed their ulterior motives of shop breaking, looting and vandalisation of public and private properties.
“Therefore, the government found it necessary to impose these measures to safeguard people’s lives and properties in the state.”
Abubakar Sadiq-Aliyu, spokesperson of the state police command, said, “We wish to dismiss the misinformation that police personnel shot live ammo at protesters, resulting in loss of lives,” he said.
“We assure the members of the public that our officers exercised the maximum level of restraint and professionalism in handling the violent protesters.”
