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Human rights lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor has called for an impartial and independent investigation into the police shooting incident at the Ogbo-Ogwu Headbridge Market in Onitsha, Anambra State, that left two traders injured and sparked a protest.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Ejiofor, a former lawyer for the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), condemned what he described as the use of lethal force against unarmed civilians.
He alleged that police personnel routinely harass traders at the popular pharmaceutical market, making arrests and demanding gratification.
According to accounts cited by Ejiofor, on Wednesday morning a trader leaving the market with a carton of goods was pursued by policemen and shot at close range after reportedly failing to stop.
The incident, he said, triggered a civil protest during which allegations of indiscriminate police shooting resulted in serious injuries and loss of lives.
“This represents a deeply disturbing departure from the constitutional and professional duty of law-enforcement officers to protect life, preserve public order and exercise their powers with restraint, necessity and proportionality,” Ejiofor stated.
“A civilian protest, however tense or disorderly, cannot by itself become a licence for the indiscriminate deployment of lethal force.”
He urged Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu and the Anambra State Commissioner of Police, CP Nnanna Oji Ama, to ensure a thorough probe, identify every officer who discharged a firearm or participated in any unlawful excesses, and ensure full accountability where culpability is established.
Meanwhile, the Anambra CP assured the public that a probe into the incident would be conducted.
The CP gave the assurance after visiting the victims in the hospital on Wednesday, promising them the support of the command while pledging to personally ensure that their medical expenses were covered.
Ama appealed for calm, urging members of the public to remain peaceful and allow the investigation to run its course.
