Condemnation has trailed a video which went viral on Saturday, October 3, in which it was alleged that operatives of the police Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS) shot and killed an unnamed youth in Ughelli, headquarters of Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State.
This followed a narrative on the incident by the Delta State police command, which indicated that the alleged killing of the youth in the video was a malicious falsehood.
Contrary to claims on the video, it was reliably gathered that the victim who has been identified as Joshua Ambrose is indeed alive, and was neither shot by operatives of SARS nor personnel of any other unit of the Nigeria police.
Debunking the claim, Minister of State, Labour and Productivity, Festus Keyamo SAN, said in a tweet: “I just spoke with both the commissioner of police, Delta State and the Area Commander in Ughelli where the unfortunate incident involving a young man and the police took place yesterday. I also spoke with Ochuko, the victim’s brother…All of them said the victim is alive and receiving treatment”.
Keyamo, who displayed a photograph of the victim, added, “This is a picture of the victim in hospital this morning, showing injuries from the fall. The police stopped to pick him up after the fall but an angry mob had already gathered and the police fled and left the victim. A good Samaritan picked him and took him to hospital”.
Commenting on the alleged killing, Dr. Greg Osifo, an Abuja-based alternative medicine practitioner, condemned the circulation of the viral video which he described as malicious and mischievous.
He said the perpetrators of the act were out to demonize the police to achieve a sinister objective. “The truth is now unfolding on what actually transpired and I strongly believe it is time for people to speak out in good conscience against the emerging trend of castigating the police for no just cause without verifying the truth.
The social media is now being deployed negatively, and unless effort is made to check the trend, a lot of damage will be done to the psyche of the police and other institutions. How can you blatantly allege that someone was shot by SARS personnel and killed, when nothing of such happened? That is wicked”.
Onome Onovwakpoyeya, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and spokesperson for the Delta State police command could not be reached for comments on the incident at the time of filing this report, but a senior police officer at the command headquarters in Asaba, the state capital, dismissed the video as an “orchestrated amateur hatchet job”.
Giving an insight into the incident, he said at about 1.pm on Saturday, October 3, a team of police personnel of Operation Safe Delta was on patrol along the Ughelli-Warri road close to Wetland Hotel, when on sighting the police patrol team, the driver of a white Lexus 350 RX jeep with registration number ABC 484 DK, made a U-turn and drove off on high speed.
“The manner in which the driver suddenly reversed and sped off aroused suspicion of the patrol team, prompting a hot chase and eventually, the team caught up with the vehicle which had two occupants including the driver who were later identified as Joshua Ambrose and Ovie Odafe. Upon their arrest, both suspects were being taken to the police station in Ughelli for investigation when suddenly, Ambrose who was the driver of the Lexus jeep jumped off and fell on the ground thereby sustaining injuries on his head.
Efforts by the police to rescue him were aborted by an angry mob which attempted to attack the police patrol team, forcing them to withdraw for safety with the other suspect, Ovie, and the Lexus jeep to the station. Contrary to claims in the video being circulated, SARS had no encounter with the victim and Ambrose was neither shot nor killed by the Operation Safe Delta patrol team which arrested him on reasonable grounds. He is alive and receiving treatment at Lili Hospital in Warri for injuries sustained after he jumped off a moving vehicle”.
