Police officer who shot FRSC officials in Aba dismissed
Commissioner of Police in Abia State, Mr. Leye Oyebade said that the force had dismissed Police Corporal Iroh Orji, for shooting two officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) at Aba.
Oyebade, who stated this while addressing newsmen on the activities of the command at the StatePolice Headquarters in Umuahia on Monday, said that Orji was tried and found guilty of the offence and had to be dismissed from the police.
"The command and the police hierarchy condemned the action of the corporal,” he said, describing his action as a negation of the laid down rules of the force.
"Police do not advise its members to use their arms" he added.
Recall that the Orji shot the officials on the Aro -Ngwa axis of the Enugu Port- Harcourt express last month, allegedly on the order of the Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly, Barr Chikwendu Kalu.
See previous report here
However, the Speaker denied the report. Speaking to journalists at his official residence in Umuahia, Kalu also condemned the over zealousness of the security officers said to be involved in the incident.
The speaker who added that he was not physically present at scene of the incident, pointed out he only sent his security details together with his younger brother to find out the people that accosted his wife while on her way to Aba.
"I received a distress call that while my wife was on her way to Aba with her friend and orderly, some officers of the FRSC accosted her car, ordered them to come out of her car and started hitting her car with their stick, and finally dragged out her chief details, who is equally a woman out of the car" he said.
“When I was informed of the incident, I sent my details to find out who the people in question were, because we thought the people on that uniform may not be right people, it was in the course of doing that the incident happened.
“I was informed that somebody sustained a gunshot injury and we been on top of the situation, trying to find out what really happened. But I want to say that with every sense of responsibility and humility that I’m well informed about the importance of human life, and equally aware of the provisions of section 33, sub-section (1) of the 1999 constitution as amended that forbids taking away one’s life, I’m equally aware of the sister provision of section 33 sub-section (2) of the same constitution on the mode a human life could be taken.
“I strongly condemn any over zealousness on the side of any security personnel be the person a member of the Police, Road Safety, the Army and Department of States services. I think I will be the last person to encourage it because it doesn’t augur well with State and the Country at large.
"I’m well informed enough to know that I don’t have the authority to order anybody to shoot and I can’t even encourage such an action, even in the highest degree of provocation, I think I will move to the law court as practicing lawyer, before I joined politics”
