Operation Safe Haven (OPSH), a multi-security task force maintaining peace in Plateau and some parts of Bauchi and Kaduna states, on Wednesday, apologised for mistakenly killing one Rinji Peter Bala, by its personnel.
The killing of the young Bala had generated reactions on the microblogging site, Twitter, with #JusticeForRinji trending as of Wednesday night.
OPSH which made the apology in a statement by its Media Officer, Major Ibrahim Shittu, described the incident as unfortunate and regrettable.
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According to the statement, the deceased was mistaken as a suspect attempting to escape from its custody.
The media officer narrated that at about 10pm on May 12, 2020, information was received on the activities of suspected armed robbers and cultists operating around No 18th Street, Jos South LGA of Plateau State and the report revealed that the criminals took advantage of the lockdown and curfew to perpetrate crimes in the area.
In reaction to the report, “Sector 1 patrol troops of OPSH swiftly responded and arrested seven suspects, which were immediately moved to Headquarters Sector 1 for preliminary investigations.
“Five out of the seven suspects were cleared and asked to leave the premises but unfortunately as they were leaving the premises, one of the personnel on sentry duty mistook them for escaping suspects, thus opened fire on them, which led to the death of Mr Rinji Bala,” he said.
Major Shittu, however, said that thorough investigation was ongoing to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident.
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