A 25-year-old man, Moses Adam, was killed by a stray bullet from a police officer in Benin City, Edo state.
It was gathered that the incident occurred at about 4:08 pm on Friday, September 17, when the late Adam, said to be the only son of his parents, arrived Benin from Lagos to attend his sister’s wedding slated for Saturday.
WITHIN NIGERIA had reported that a police officer killed an occupant of a moving vehicle identified as Moses Adam while attempting to arrest a murder suspect in Benin City, Edo state
The spokesperson of the Edo State Police Command, SP Kontongs Bello, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday, explained that the officer, who is of the anti-kidnap and cybercrime unit of the command, was trying to arrest a murder suspect, Ebuka Nwaechie, when he fired a shot to restrain the fleeing suspect.
“The bullet unfortunately hit one of the occupants of a moving vehicle identified as Moses Adam. He was rushed to the Edo Specialist Hospital where he gave up the ghost. The erring officer will go through administrative trial that will determine his culpability,” the statement said.
However, Esther, one of Adam’s elder sisters, disagreed with the account. She lamented the attempt by the police to twist the narrative.
“My brother was not killed by a stray bullet as the police claimed. He was aimed at in the second car which Ebuka was not even inside. While treating my brother, the doctor told us that he was hit by a close range bullet and that he lost so much blood before his death. You can just imagine what the police are now saying about the crime deliberately committed by their officer.” she said.
According to Foundation For Investigative Journalism, FIJ, the deceased was with his friend, Kelvin Uwumunse in a vehicle while other friends were in another car when the incident happened.
They were said to have left a tailor’s shop where he had gone to pick his clothes in preparation for his sister’s wedding when “some police detectives on mufti violently waylaid their cars”
The report said Adam and his friends were unsure of the identity of the people contending the road with them, so they tried to make a detour, but gunshots were fired at them.