By Julius Osahon, Yenagoa Barely some weeks after youths across the country took to the streets to protest against police brutality,...
By Julius Osahon,
Yenagoa
Barely some weeks after youths across the country took to
the streets to protest against police brutality, another bizarre show of
brutality has triggered unrest in Yenagoa metropolis, capital of Bayelsa State,
when some policemen opened fire at a crowded market, leaving four women critically
injured on Tuesday evening.
Eyewitnesses said the policemen in a white Hilux SUV with
registration number: Terropol, NFF 8643C, opened fire on the market women,
inflicting life-threatening injuries on a 17-year-old trader and three others
for allegedly causing traffic that delayed their van from passing through the
popular Tombia market.
The Tombia roundabout is home to a bustling market and motor
park. An eyewitness told The Guardian that the policemen, numbering six,
started shooting into the air for traders and pedestrians to leave the roadside
and make way for their vehicle to pass.
He said when the traders hesitated to leave, one of the
policemen opened fire on the traders, causing pandemonium.
Miss Joy Robert, who was with her foster mother when the
incident happened, said: “While we were walking down the Tombia bridge, I saw a
policeman shouting at market women to clear the road for their vehicle to pass.
“Before we knew what was happening, the policeman started
pointing his gun at the women, ordering them to move out of the way. The women
were still dazed by the cop’s action and while they hesitated to move, he began
shooting on the ground.
“I thought I had been shot but I heard my mom screaming that
she could not move her legs. It was at that point I realized that she had been
shot on her leg. Some persons came to our rescue after the police van had left
the scene, driving towards Amossoma but I was able to write the number of the
van down.
“If they line up the policemen I can recognise them. All I
want is justice for my foster mother. As we speak, the hospital is already
saying that if we don’t pay an advance fee, they would discharge her from the
hospital.”
A pastor with one of the branches of Christ’s Embassy in
Yenagoa, Mr. Onoja Majadu, whose wife was a victim, said he is traumatised by
the incident.
“I was somewhere to congratulate a friend whose wife gave
birth to a baby girl when I called my wife to go to Tombia market to get some
food items to prepare food for the woman who was just delivered of the baby.
Not quite some minutes later, I got a call that my wife was shot by the police.
“At that point, my temperature increased but I managed to
ask where she was and was told she had been rushed to a nearby hospital. In
fact, when I saw my wife, I couldn’t believe my eyes. She was badly brutalized.
“As we speak, the bone between her ankle and knee is badly
damaged. The hospital is asking me to provide N100,000 before they would commence
major treatment on her leg.”
Mr. Kingdom Baine, the father of the 17-year-old victim,
Alice Baine, said: “I was in my house yesterday when her elder sister sent her
to Tombia market to sell periwinkle. Around 7:00 p.m. we began to get worried
that she had not returned home. Ii was in the course of searching for her that
we were told she was shot on her two legs by the police. I wonder if my
daughter can still go back to school. I want justice for her so my mind would
be at rest.”
Narrating her ordeal, Mrs. Ebinipre Majadu, said: “Around
6:00 p.m. I was in the market to get some food items. I was buying lobsters
when I heard gunshots. I didn’t feel anything initially but when I tried to
run, I realised I couldn’t move one of my legs. It was at that point my
daughter raised an alarm and bystanders came to my rescue and rushed me to the
hospital.”
When contacted, the Commissioner of Police, Bayelsa Command,
CP Mike Okoli, said: “We have the particulars of the vehicle as Terropol, NPF
8643C, white Hilux. Be informed that the vehicle and the policemen involved in
this unprovoked attack on innocent women have been apprehended and now in
custody.
“I want to assure you that they are already facing severe
disciplinary measures the outcome of which you will be informed. I thank you
for your cooperation and concern especially those who made the particulars of
the vehicle readily available.
“The unfortunate incident occurred at the popular
Tombia-Etegwe roundabout on November 24, around 7:45 p.m. when the patrol team
was stuck in traffic and one of the police officers in a bid to clear the
gridlock accidentally fired a shot, the bullet ricocheted and injured three
women. The victims are responding to treatment at the Glory land Hospital,
Yenagoa.”
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