Police officers charged as stray bullet kills 17-year-old Boy in Jos
The Plateau State Police have apprehended five officers attached to the C Division for shooting and murdering a 17-year-old boy, recognized as Ibuchim Ofezie, in Jos.
The state police spokesperson, DSP Alfred Alabo, in a statement issued on Tuesday disclosed that the affected officers would be sanctioned after a proper investigation.
“It was gathered that in a bid to enforce the ban on the operation of commercial motorcycles in the state, the officers visited the terminus market and chased those illegally operating. In the process, they shot sporadically and a stray bullet hit Ofezie inside his shop at the market.
”The Plateau State Commissioner of Police, CP Bartholomew Onyeka, condemned the killing of the 17yrs old boy, Ibuchim Ofezie, a resident of Agingi Community of Bassa Local Government Area of Jos by some obdurate police patrol operatives attached to “C” Division of the Command.
”The CP, who described the incident as a paradox, maintained that the police are empowered by law to bear firearms to protect the lives of the citizenry and not to take their lives.
”The commissioner has ordered the arrest of the officers to ensure that the erring patrol team does not evade justice.”
The five officers have been arrested and are being investigated at the Homicide Section of the Criminal Investigation Department, SCID of the state.
