Newspaper vendors in Abuja have taken to streets to protest the killing of one of their colleagues, Ifeanyi Okereke Elechi.
Elechi was hit by a stray bullet from a security aide to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, on Thursday evening.
The Speaker confirmed the incident in a statement released in the early hours of Friday.
According to him, Elechi was shot by the stray bullet, which was only intended to disperse a crowd while he was exchanging pleasantries with the newspaper vendors on his was out of the National Assembly.
“A horrible incident has taken place. This evening as I left the national assembly, I stopped, as usual, to exchange pleasantries with the newspaper vendors at the corner,” he explained.
“Many of them have known me since I first moved to Abuja and it was a friendly exchange. Unfortunately, after the convoy set out in continuation of movement, unidentified men obstructed the convoy which got the attention of security men in the convoy who shot into the air to disperse them.
The lawmaker narrated that some hours after they got to their destination, he was informed that the victim, identified as Ifeanyi had been hit by a stray bullet.
He said this was “contrary to an earlier report by men in the convoy that they applied their security discretion to shoot in the air.
“In the meantime; the officer who fired the fatal shot has been suspended from the convoy pending the conclusion of the investigation.”
While sending his condolences to the family of the deceased, the Speaker expressed distraught about the incident.
Meanwhile, the FCT Commissioner of Police, Bala Ciroma, has ordered an investigation into the incident.
The command also refuted allegations that the killer was a police officer.
A statement by the command spokesperson, ASP Mariam Yusuf titled, ‘Shooting of newspapers vendor not by the police,’ commiserated with the family of the victim.
It read, “The FCT Police Command wishes to unequivocally refute the allegation making the round sections of the media that a police officer attached to the convoy of the Speaker of the House of Representatives shot at a newspaper vendor within the Three Arms Zone on Thursday 19th November 2020
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