Nigeria police dismiss three officers after deadly shootings

The Lagos State Police Command has dismissed three officers for “reckless shooting” after a violent incident that began on Thursday night led to the death of a young man.

The deceased, named Azubuike Wenemaru, was allegedly shot by police officers attached to the Pako Police Station in Amukoko who invaded a birthday party in the area.

An eye witness, who identified himself simply as Mr. Peter, told PREMIUM TIMES that the deceased was with his friends when the armed police officers arrived in a commercial tricycle and wanted to arrest people.

“The police officers jumped down from the Keke and cocked their guns and everybody started running. There were gunshots and a bullet hit Azubuike in the stomach,” Mr. Peter said.

Mr. Wenemaru, 30, died in the hospital due to gunshot wounds provoking the youth in the area who converged on the police station and began pelting officers with stones, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

On Saturday, the police announced it had sacked three officers from the Amukoko Division for “reckless shooting.”

The police officers, identified as Osaseri Saturday, a sergeant; Segun Okun, a sergeant; and Adekunle Oluwarotimi, a corporal, were tried and dismissed for breaching the rules of engagement and reckless application of firearms, Chike Oti, the Lagos police spokesperson, said in a statement.

“The aforementioned Non Commissioned Officers(NCOs), committed the offence on the 11/01/2018, at about 2130 hours, at Ifelodun street, Amukoko, Lagos state when they disproportionately responded with bullets fired from their weapons at some youths alleged to have hurled some non ballistic missiles at them such as stones, sticks and bottles leading to the death of one of the youths and injury on another.

“They were arrested, detained and tried immediately on the orders of the Commissioner of Police, Lagos state, CP Edgal Imohimi.

“The guilty verdict was passed on them by the adjudicating officer who considered that the officers did not appreciate the situation critically and ought not to have applied the maximum force on the unruly youths.”

The police said the officers would be still be charged to court next week, while a duplicate copy of the casefile would be sent to the Directorate of Public Prosecution( DPP) for legal advice.

“Sequel to the above occurrence, the Commissioner of Police has directed all the Area Commanders and DPOs in Lagos state to warn their men against misapplication of force,” Mr. Oti, a Superintendent of Police said.