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From Gyang Bere, Jos
The Plateau State Police Command has arrested five police officers over the killing of 17-year-old Ibuchim Ofezie, a resident of the Agingi community in Bassa Local Government Area of the state.
The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Alfred Alabo, in a press statement, yesterday, said the police are empowered by law to bear firearms for the protection of unarmed civilians and not to take lives with them.
The statement noted that the police officers attached to the police patrol operatives under “C” Division of the Plateau State Police Command were said to have been on duty arresting defaulting motorcycle riders over the ban on motorcycle operation in the state.
The incident, which occurred at noon, along the Terminus Market in Jos, said the bullet killed the motor inside a shop in the market. The Plateau State Commissioner of Police, Bartholomew Onyeka, described the incident as a paradox, asserting that police officers are empowered by law to bear firearms to protect the lives of the citizenry and not to take lives with them.
He said: “In order to ensure that the erring patrol team do not evade justice, the commissioner of police has immediately ordered their arrest. The five officers who made up the patrol team have been arrested and are currently being investigated at the Homicide Section of the Plateau State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID).”
CP Onyeka assured the family and friends of the deceased and Plateau residents as a whole of justice, and that the culprits will be thoroughly investigated and made to face the wrath of the law, according to their involvement in the vicious killing. He further promised that the outcome of the investigation will be made public.
