From Gyang Bere, Jos
Why do police operatives turn their guns against the people they are supposed to protect? That was the question on the lips of many following the killing of 17-year-old Ibuchim Ofezie, a trader at the famous Ahmadu Bello Terminus Market, Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State, who was hit by a stray bullet fired by an overzealous police officer suspected to have been drunk.
The sad incident on April 3 around 11am was shocking, pathetic and unbearable. The energetic Ibuchim who resumed work at his shop behind ECWA Good News Church that fateful morning after the weekend had no premonition about his sudden death.
The young man, tall and full of life, had swept and dusted the shop, waiting for customers to arrive. He was right inside the shop upstairs with his boss, when some obdurate police operatives attached to “C” Division of Plateau State Command, who were chasing motorcyclists, fired into the air and the stray bullet killed him.
Ibuchim, who was brought from the South-East about three months ago to Jos for greener pastures, was keenly learning his trade when the trigger-happy policeman killed him inside the shop. The shooting created pandemonium around the neighborhood as people ran helter-skelter.
It was learnt that some Hausa boys took the body to the Jos Central Mosque, thinking the slain trader was a Muslim. When they discovered otherwise, the body was transferred to an unknown hospital before burial, leaving the enitre state capital in panic mode.
The police officers were on duty at the city centre where they discovered that the motorcyclists were operating beyond the their jurisdiction, which violate the law prohibiting motorcycles within the Greater Jos master plan.
Five policemen who were inside the police patrol van chased after the motorcyclists and one of them fired into the air. The stray bullet hit the innocent trader and killed him instantly.
The police officers were identified and apprehended immediately by traders in the market and handed over to the state police command. The commissioner of police, Bartholomew Onyeka, swiftly ordered the detention of the blood-thirsty officers.
Onyeka, in a statement signed by the police public relations officer in the state, Alfred Alabo, described the incident as a paradox. He asserted that police officers were empowered by law to bear firearms to protect the lives of the citizenry and not to take their lives.
He said: “The CP assures the family and friends of the deceased and Plateau residents as a whole of justice and that the culprits would be thoroughly investigated and made to face the wrath of the law, according to their involvement in the vicious killing.”
Onyeka, who spoke with the bereaved family immediately after the sad incident, followed with an impromptu visit to the family, where he condoled with the people and assured them that the matter would not be swept under the carpet.
He explained that the police had intensified action with a view to fish out the erring officer among the five detained cops. He said the matter would be prosecuted to its logical conclusion and pledged to keep the public abreast with unfolding events.
Also, to show empathy to the bereaved family, a team of officers, comprising the DPO ‘C’ Division, Bassa, and Alabo, on Friday, April 7, met with leaders of the Igbo community in Jos and paid a condolence visit to the family of Ibuchim Ofezie at Agingi in Bassa Local Government Area. The family was assured of the CP’s resolve to ensure justice for the deceased as the matter was of utmost priority to the police boss.
Traders along the wing of the market are yet to recover from the shock as it could be anybody’s turn anytime.
A trader who shared the same corridor with the victim, described the incident as shocking, saying he was outside when he heard the gunshot: “I was sitting outside, close to the door to his shop, when the police officers fired the shot. I saw them running after the motorcyclist but when it was obvious that they won’t get him, one of them shot into the air and, unfortunately, the bullet hit Ibuchim and killed him.”
It was gathered that Ibuchim was trying to raise money to organise a funeral for his father who died a few weeks ago.
