A Police sergeant, Bello Garba on Friday shot a 25-year old Aminu Abdulrahman dead and injure two others, Junaidu Abba, Babangida Muhammad and Awaisu Alti, at Independence Day prayers organised by Sokoto state government.
The spokesperson of the Police Command, ASP Muhammad Sadiq in a statement Friday night, confirmed the incident, adding that the Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Kaoje had ordered the detention and trial of erring officer.
According to the statement, the incident occurred when governor Aminu Tambuwal was “giving out gifts to the needy, a brief distribution of which gave birth to an upsurge.
It said, in an effort to control the crowd after the departure of dignitaries, Sgt. Garba, who serves at Counter Terrorism Unit Base 18 in Gusau, Zamfara state but attached to Government House Sokoto and on special duty at Sultan Palace, “unprofessionally fired without reasonable justification at that material time.”
Sadiq also said the CP ordered the state criminal investigation department, CID, to speed up investigation and come up with findings.
“Today at about 2:30pm, shortly after the special Juma’at prayers offered in commemoration of Nigeria’s forthcoming 60th independence anniversary at Sultan Bello Juma’at Mosque, His Excellency, the Governor of Sokoto state, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal CFR, while magnanimously giving out gifts to the needy, a brief distribution gave birth to an upsurge in would be beneficiaries.
“However, in an unconventional effort to control the crowd after the departure of the VIPs, one Sergeant Bello Garba serving at Counter Terrorism Unit Base 18 Gusau, attached to government house Sokoto but on special duty at Sultan Palace, unprofessionally fired without reasonable justification at that material time.
“As a result, one Aminu Abdulrahman aged 25 years was shot dead on the spot, while 1. Junaidu Abba 2. Babangida Muhammad 3. Awaisu Alti all indigenes of Sokoto, sustained various degrees of injury, victims were evacuated to Specialist Hospital Sokoto for treatment and autopsy, respectively.
“The Commissioner of Police, CP Ibrahim Sani Kaoje had ordered the immediate detention and commencement of trial of the erring officer. In the same vein, the CP had charged the State Criminal Investigation Department to launch a discreet investigation in order to unravel the circumstances surrounding the situation,” the statement reads.
Kaoje cautioned that officers and men of the Command must deploy professionalism in the discharge of their duties.
