A Police corporal, Alex Okpe, has come under heat for allegedly shooting to death, Moses Aminu, a 30 –year old graduate for daring to intervene in a scuffle between him and his girl at a party in Barnawa,in Kaduna metropolis.
The dreams and high expectations of the family of Malam Mohammed Jimoh Aminu on their son, Moses Murtala Aminu, a graduate of the Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU) Zaria suddenly crashed, last Sunday night.
A police corporal, Alex Okpe allegedly shot and killed the 30-year old Moses, a second class Upper Division graduate of Economics for daring to prevent him from assaulting a girl at a party.
Weekly Trust gathered that the incident which ended the life of the 2007 graduate occurred on Sunday night, September 29, 2013 at Barnawa, an area in Kaduna south.
It was also gathered that the accused police officer perpetrated the act, while garbed in his mufti. Further information at the disposal of Weekly Trust also suggested that Corporal Okpe is currently serving at the Kakuri Police Division, but shot and killed Moses at a birthday gig in Barnawa, a place, very remote from his area of jurisdiction.
The elder sister to the deceased, Mrs. Aliyu Sherifat in her narration said her husband received a call on Monday morning from a younger sister, who broke the sad news of Moses’ death.
“Later on, I learnt that the Policeman who killed my brother was beating a girl at the venue of a birthday party in Barnawa. And my younger brother, who was in company of his friends, went there to make peace and to settle them. The policeman insulted the guys in return and one of the guys tapped the policeman on the back asking him why he was insulting their parents? The policeman just turned and fired a gun. The bullet hit my brother on his chest and he died instantly,” she sobbed.
“My brother has been struggling to become a responsible man since he graduated. Presently, he works with a company that supplies beverages. After work he has a joint called Grill Masters where he does Shawarma, grills chicken and fish. That is how he has been supporting our parents, because he is the only one staying with our aged parents,” she added.
The aged father of late Moses, Malam Mohammed Jimoh who has been blind for 14 years now cried out that the breadwinner and sustainer of his family has been killed.
While leaving judgment to God, Aminu and Moses’ elder sister, appealed to the police to release his corpse for burial to allow his soul rest in peace.
The legal representative of the deceased family, Ehizogie F. Imadojemu said the incident has been communicated to the Commissioner of Police and other superior authorities.
“So far, no body from the police has come to condole the family, but the Police Commissioner assured us that they are going to look into the incident but the corpse has not been released to the family for burial,” the counsel said.
He said investigations revealed that the deceased was on Keffi Road in Barnawa attending a birthday party when the corporal was assaulting a girl outside the venue of the party and that the deceased and his friends intervened.
“The late Moses and his friends tried to intervene by asking him to stop, not knowing that he was a policeman because he was in mufti. The policeman, angry perhaps, because of his powers and that some civilians will be telling him what he didn’t want to hear, took out his gun and shot him close to his heart and the bullet came out from the other side of his body. He died almost immediately but up till now, his corpse has not been released by the police. The father of the deceased is a Muslim and he desires to bury his son according to Muslim rites. In fact, the burial arrangement is scheduled for Saturday (today)”, he added.
“We gathered that the said corporal is used to cruel attitude and fond of brutalizing civilians. So, we are surprised that the authority knowing this still armed him with and allows him to go around with the pistol. Only God knows how many people he has killed,” he said.
He, however, said the family might be forced to take legal action, if the corpse of the deceased is not released for burial.
The late Moses was the third born but second son of his family. He was the youth leader in Narayi High-Cost and also the youth leader of Holy Family Catholic Church.
The Deputy Youth Leader, Engineer Kunle Adesanmi said the entire youths of the community want justice done.
According to him, the late Moses was able for the first time in history to gather the youths of the community together last year for a peace carnival, noting that the memory of the carnival still lingers.
“This is really unfair, we feel cheated, we want the suspected culprit to face the full wrath of the law,” he said. He was flanked by other youths, all dressed in black, as they echoed ‘we want justice.’
Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Olufemi Adenaike confirmed the incident, saying “it is true that there was a very bad thing that happened between the police and Moses, which ended up in the Moses being shot and he died.”
He said the police officer has been arrested and that they have sent a signal to the police headquarters on the incident and that investigation has commenced. “Immediately, we find him guilty, we are going to try him after which he will be dismissed from the force, then taken to court,” he assured.
Commenting on the release of the corpse, he said he has asked the family to apply for the release of the corpse.
Weekly trust
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