A police officer attached to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila reportedly shot a newspaper vendor in the head yesterday, in Abuja, the Federal capital Territory, (FCT).
According to reports, the victim, whose name was given as Ifeanyi Okereke died shortly after he was rushed to the National Hospital by his brother and some police officers. The incident was said to have occurred at the Federal Secretariat, Abuja, around 3 pm.
The shooting incident happened when Okereke and other street vendors flocked around the convoy of the Speaker, who called them to give them money.
Speaking with journalists, the Chairman of the Newspapers Vendors Association in the FCT, Etim Eteng, said that incidentally, Okereke’s wife gave birth to a baby on the same yesterday morning, explaining that, “The Speaker called to give vendors money and the security aide just shot him (Okereke) in the head. He was rushed to the National Hospital where he died some hours later.”
One of the vendors, Abdullahi Seidu said, the yet-to-be-identified security aide could not explain why he shot Okereke when Gbajabiamila confronted him.
Confirming the incident, the spokesperson of the National Hospital said, Dr. Tayo Haastrup, stated that Okereke died of gunshot injuries, saying, “He died of gunshot injuries and would be moved from the Trauma Centre to the mortuary shortly”.
However, the Speaker in a swift response early this morning stated that he was personally distraught about this incident and extended his deepest sympathies to the victim’s family and Abuja vendors. In a personal letter he posted early this morning, he added that the officer who fired the fatal shot has been suspended from the convoy pending the conclusion of the investigation.
