Nigerian police shoot 18- year-old boy to death at checkpoint in Edo
Operatives of the Edo State Police Command have reportedly shot dead an 18-year-old boy identified as Chinedu Abimbor, at a checkpoint in the Ekpoma area of Esan West Local Government Area of the state.
It was gathered that the tragic incident occurred on Wednesday, at a police checkpoint in the University community.
An eyewitness who declined having his name in print, said the victim was driving in a Mercedes Benz car, but refused to stop at the police checkpoint when he was flagged down by operatives.According to him, apparently angered by the victim’s refusal to stop one of the police operatives immediately shot at the vehicle, killing the victim in the process.
He said: “His brother who rode in the vehicle with him at the time was immediately arrested by the police and taken into custody.”
This development prompted angry youths to take to the streets of Ekpoma on Thursday to demand justice for the slain 18-year-old,” he said.
The protesters, who also stopped at the palace of the traditional ruler of Ekpoma, HRH Anthony Ehizogie Abumere II, demanded the immediate release of the victim’s brother from custody.
A spokesman for the protesters, who identified himself as Lucky Adaba, said, “We went to the police station to inquire about what could have led to the killing, but the police teargassed us and started shooting.
“The police have formed the habit of harassing young men driving cars in Ekpoma.”
Meanwhile, the Edo State Police Command has ordered a full-scale investigation into the incident to ascertain what actually happened.
A statement issued by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Moses Yamu, said the incident involved a joint operation team of security forces and the occupants of an unregistered Mercedes-Benz, resulting in the death of Chinedu Abimbor.
Yamu, who issued the statement to journalists on Friday, explained that the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Command, Betty Otimenyin, had directed the immediate withdrawal of the three patrol teams implicated in the incident from operations.
He said the Commissioner commiserated with the family and friends of the deceased and “called for calm from the general public, with the assurance that justice will be served in the end.”