Fracas over okada law: Policeman kills UniMaid student

The deceased was said to have been shot in the stomach around 10.20pm as a result of a struggle between some students who sought to forcefully retrieve their colleague’s motorcycle from the outpost after it was seized by policemen who mounted a block in front of the taxi park  across the police outpost. They claimed to have done so to enforce the ban on motorcycle operation that was reintroduced the day before (last Thursday) by the state government to restrict movement of cyclists from 6am to 9pm to curb criminal activities.

Eye witnesses said the students engaged the policeman in a scuffle and eventually tore his uniform while he held tightly to his rifle and tried to fire into the air to ward them off. He was said to have fired thrice and it was during one of such shots that a stray bullet hit the late Musa who was standing nearby. A bullet also hit and injured another student on the leg.

An eyewitness and friend to the late Musa told our correspondent that they were by the road when they heard a crashing sound. “We rushed along with other students and saw an injured student by the roadside and learnt that the police who were enforcing the ban on motorcycle movement tried to stop him and in the process hit and injured him with a stick. The broken pieces of the stick were still there when we arrived.  

“What annoyed everyone was that instead of attending to the injured student, the policeman and his colleagues just seized and carried the motorcycle to their station. The students angrily rushed to attack the particular one who hit him with the stick. He shot into the air and the students dispersed. One of us called the relatives of the injured student motorcyclist. When they came, the young man’s father was very angry and requested that his son’s motorcycle be lifted into the trunk of one of their cars. But the students still persisted and while this was going on, the deceased pulled my hand and said we should leave. When we turned to leave, I saw him slump and realized he had been shot,” the eyewitness disclosed.

He continued that the deceased was rushed to three different hospitals but was not attended to because no police officer agreed to accompany them there, adding that it was the same case at the Gwange police station until the deceased died in the car.

Police spokesperson, ASP Isa Azare confirmed the incident and advised the public to desist from taking the law into their hands. He said if any police officer is found wanting by the public, such cases should be reported to the nearest police station, and added that three persons were arrested in connection with the case, but later released to douse tension, while investigation into the case continued.