Police dismiss officer who shot businessman dead over bribe payment

The police in Abia State, south-east Nigeria, have dismissed a police operative who allegedly shot dead a businessman in Aba, the commercial hub of the state.

The police spokesperson in the state, Maureen Chinaka, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.

The businessman, Emmanuel Okocha, PREMIUM TIMES gathered, was shot dead on 17 April in the state for allegedly refusing to give a bribe to some police operatives.

Two days later, he died in a hospital where he was taken for treatment.

The late Okocha hailed from Abiriba, a community in Ohafia Local Government Area in the South-eastern state.

The operatives who said to have shot him were from the Rapid Response Squad of the police in the state.

They were said to have demanded a bribe from the victim despite having his complete vehicle and driver’s licences.

But police authorities in the state later said the officer who allegedly shot dead the businessman had been identified and arrested.

The officer, identified as Obagi Njok, a police corporal, was attached to the Abayi Police Divisional Headquarters in the state.

The authorities assured that the officer would be punished as soon as investigations into the incident were concluded.

Dismissal

In the police statement on Wednesday, Ms Chinaka, an assistant superintendent of police, said investigations found Mr Njok guilty of killing the businessman.

“Police Corporal Obagi Njok, as he then was, was found guilty of discreditable conduct to, with misuse of firearm, and has therefore been dismissed from the Nigeria Police Force,” she said.

The spokesperson said all persons concerned in the case, including family of the deceased, were carried along in the course of the investigations.

She said the Abia State Police Command remains steadfast in upholding professionalism and the rule of law in Nigeria, adding that the command has zero tolerance for any act of misconduct, unprofessionalism, and indiscipline among its operatives.

“Investigation into the criminal aspects of his conduct has also been concluded and the matter has therefore been handed over to the office of the attorney general and commissioner for justice in Abia State on 24/05/2024 for prosecution in court,” she stated.

Not the first time

Cases of police brutality and killing of Nigerians are not new in the country.

In October 2020, Nigerian youths protested against police brutality across the country and called for disbandment of the now defunct Special Anti-Robbery Unit (SARS) of the police.

Despite the ban on SARS, the cases of police brutality have persisted across the country.

Six officers, for instance, were caught in a viral video, in April 2023 using a machete to smack two unidentified people in Imo State.

The police in the state would later begin an ‘orderly room trial’ of the officers.

Within the same period, a police officer who was filmed slapping a motorist in Emohua, Rivers State, was demoted.

The Emohua incident occurred a few days after Ubi Ebri, another officer, allegedly shot dead a young man in the neighbouring Delta State for reportedly refusing to give N100 bribe

PREMIUM TIMES reported how youths in Delta State protested with the victim’s corpse along major roads in Asaba.

Mr Ebri, the officer, was immediately arrested, dismissed from service and later arraigned.