Hausa youths protest killing of neighbour by police stray bullet in Benin

Commercial and vehicular activities were on Wednesday grounded at the Igueomo junction, along the Benin-Asaba expressway as angry youths suspected to be of Northern extraction blocked the road to protest the alleged shooting to death of one of their members by policemen.

ValidViewNetwork reports that the victim was allegedly hit by a police stray bullet when the officers arrived in the area to arrest some suspected hoodlums.

The yet-to-be-identified victim was said to have been hit by the stray bullet in front of a POS store where he had gone to transfer the sum of ₦4000 to his wife in his home village.

The irate youths, who blocked the ever-busy expressway, also set a bonfire, ensuring that no one had access to either side of the road.

An eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity said the police were in the area to arrest some hoodlums and decided to fire gunshots on the fleeing hoodlums and in the process, a stray bullet hit the victim and died on the spot.

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According to him, “Some Benin boys had an issue with the police. Some of the officers stormed the area and in the process of chasing the boys, they fired their guns at the fleeing boys, the bullet hit the victim and he died on the spot.

“The victim was said to have just transferred the sum of ₦4000 to the wife. When he heard of the commotion outside, it was said that he decided to run for cover, only to be hit by a stray bullet.

“Being that the entire area is dominantly populated by Hausa indigenes, they came out in large numbers and blocked the road in protest. They even vandalized some police vehicles that passed the area this (Friday) morning.”

“This impromptu blockade left commuters stranded, with passengers forced to disembark from buses arriving from both the Asaba and Benin city directions”, he said.

When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the Edo State Police Command, SP Chdi Nwabuzor, said he was not aware of the incident. He asked for more time to find out what transpired.