Stray bullet: NDLEA probes death of 2-year-old

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has said that it is investigating a shooting incident involving its officers during the raid of a drug joint in the Okpanam area of Asaba, Delta State.

Daily Trust on Sunday reports that a two-year-old boy, Ivan Omorhiakogbe, who was allegedly hit by a stray bullet during a shootout by the agency’s officials, eventually died while undergoing treatment in a hospital.

The agency, in a statement Saturday in Abuja by its spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, stated that its chairman/chief executive, Brigadier-General Mohammed Buba Marwa (retd), after receiving initial briefings from the Delta State command of the NDLEA, set up a panel of top officials from the national headquarters in Abuja to immediately proceed to Asaba for an on-the-spot investigation of the incident, with a view to establishing the actual facts of the case.

According to him, this followed the initial incident report, which reveals that: “A team of NDLEA operatives carried out an intelligence-based raid of the joint of a notorious drug dealer located at the Okpanam area of Asaba about 1600 hours on Thursday, July 13 and in the process of the operation, a Toyota Camry 2008 model, light blue colour at the scene, suddenly zoomed off and knocked down one of our officers, who is currently in critical condition, undergoing treatment in a hospital.

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“In a bid to demobilise the car and prevent it from escaping, another officer fired a shot aimed at the tyre of the car, which eventually escaped. While the injured officer was rushed for treatment, the officers got reports of a stray bullet hitting a young person,” he stated.

The statement added that the officers immediately located the father of the victim, followed him to the hospital and supported in facilitating his treatment, “but unfortunately, he died in the process.”

“We are in touch with the family to provide necessary assistance while we conclude our investigation of the incident. We will like to assure the family and members of the public that we will get to the root of the case and take necessary action,” Babafemi stated.