A police officer attached to the Bayelsa State government Friday, shot dead a 13-year old student for arguing with him along the Kpansia Community in Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state.
The officer, Corporal David Napoleon, attached to Department of Operations at the State Police Command, has since been disarmed and detainedpending further investigation and trial.
The killing of Tomizibe Johnson has sparked off protests across the community now worried over rising cases of illegal arrest and killings of youths in the community.
Chairman of the Yenagoa Caretaker Committee, Oforji Oboku, however, stopped the angry protesters already planning to snatch a traffic warden as a reprisal.
The State Police Command, through the office of the spokesperson, Astimin Butswat, said the boy shot was 18 years old and the incident occurred while the accused police officer was being chased by irate youths of the community and suspected cultists.
This claim was however disputed by the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), led by the Chairman of the Central Zone, Comrade Tare Porri.
Porri insisted that after consulting with the police and family of the deceased boy, it is clear that the deceased is 13 years old. He and the killer policeman were neighbors.”
“Eyewitnesses said the policeman shot twice from the kitchen to scare away some suspected cultists trying to gain entry. When he came out, he saw that the boys were still around. There was an argument and when one of the boys called others on phone, the policeman shot at knee level and the bullet hit the deceased in the thigh.
“Eyewitnesses and the investigating officer confirmed to us that the boy was not a cultist. He was just witnessing the argument,” he said