Independence Day Murder… Police Kill Teenager in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

The Independence Day anniversary recorded a tragedy in Bayelsa State, Nigeria as a police officer allegedly killed a 16-year-old boy along Hospital Road in Yenagoa. Police patrol teams were immediately withdrawn from the metropolis on Tuesday shortly after the killing. The killing of the boy, whose identity could not be ascertained, increased to three, the number of persons allegedly shot dead by the police in the past two months. Our correspondent found that the incident which occurred at about 5pm on Monday threw the popular road which has many bars and brothels into panic. Eyewitnesses told our correspondent that after shooting the boy, the policemen immediately fled the area. One of the eyewitnesses who identified herself simply as Charity said the killer policeman was seen running after the boy. She said the policeman who was some miles away from the teenager opened fire on him but made a U-turn after discovering that he had died. She said sympathizers who later approached the body discovered that the boy was shot in the head. She also claimed that the victim’s girl friend was arrested by the police. “Many of us witnessed it. We saw the boy running and we also saw a policeman chasing him with a gun. Suddenly we heard gunshots, and saw the boy fell to the ground with blood gushing out of his head,” Edna claimed. She said the body of the victim was on the road for over an hour before a police patrol van from the “A” Division came and took it away. The Police Command Public Relations Officer, Mr. Fidelis Odunna, confirmed that the police took away the body of the victim but said he had yet to know the circumstances that led to his death. “I can confirm the death of a youth because I was driving along the road when I saw the corpse of the boy lying on the road. I then called the Police Division in charge of the area to come and remove it,” he said. He said the remains were taken to the mortuary for autopsy, adding that investigation had commenced on the matter. “We cannot say that the boy was killed by the police because we are yet to establish the allegation,” he said.