Olayomi Koiki
ABUJA – A yet-to-be-identified male adult has been hospitalised after being allegedly chased into the ditch by the police in Nigeria’s capital Abuja.
The victim was said to have been accosted by a team of policemen at a checkpoint in the Kubwa area of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on Saturday at about 7 pm.
A relative of the victim who narrated the incident and shared by @DrLove on social media platform X, alleged that the police officers attempted to extort the victim of ₦200,000.
The relative revealed that the victim who sensed danger decided to flee and ended up falling into a ditch. The police officers were said to have also shot him in the process.
“Yesterday, the 9th of November 2024 at about 6:40pm – 7pm, the Nigeria Police @PoliceNG at the FO1 Kubwa Sokale checkpoint (Abuja) 5 in number and armed, surrounded and tried to extort my 21-year-old brother the sum of N200,000 for an alleged (yahoo crime as they call it) that he didn’t commit. After sensing he was in danger, he took to his heels and they shot at him and left him for dead in a ditch and dispersed when they thought he had died.”
The relative stated that although the bullet missed him, he was left with a completely broken left leg while also bleeding as a result of the injury sustained after the fall.
“We’ve tried to report the case and all they’re saying is, ‘Thank God he is alive,’” the victim’s relative said.
The FCT Police Command’s spokeswoman Josephine Adeh did not respond to a request for comment.
In the pictures attached to the post, an X-ray showed the victim’s fractured leg while he was also lying on the hospital bed, with DrLove saying the victim might not be able to walk again.
“They shõt him and destroyed his leg. Firstly, they accused him of being a Yahoo boy. Then, they demanded N200k for him to set himself free.
“200k for bribery to bail himself out of a crime he didn’t commit. I wake up every morning and go to work wondering if I’m next. There are many cases like this you haven’t heard of. Young boys, gone. For what?
“Almost bled to death in that ditch and even after surviving, he might not walk with that leg again,” he stated.
He also wondered why the police were always caught up in such scandals despite not being the only force in Nigeria.
“Why always the police? Police aren’t the only force in Nigeria legalised with guns. The army and military are there. We’ve never really called them out for incidents such as this. How are they trained? It’s really sad. How did we get here? This is not freedom,” he said.