On Wednesday, the 22nd of May, a father of one identified as Anele Onyebuchi who was just coming back from work was allegedly shot with tear gas by a policeman and didn’t make it.
The incident occurred near Haj Estate, where the deceased resides with his young spouse and one daughter, during the evening of that Wednesday.
Describing the events, an anonymous bystander who conversed with Leadership recounted: “The deceased, while returning home, collided with a motorcycle rider (loads man) and their passenger. After stopping and ensuring the well-being of the accident victims, he proceeded towards his residence in Haj Estate, just as the police arrived at the scene.”
The eyewitness said trouble started when the policemen insisted that Mr Anele has to follow them to the station, this was after the okada man and his passenger has had already gone on their way.
The resulting confrontation sparked a dispute, ending with the officer firing the tear gas canister directly into the deceased’s eye from a short distance.
His church members and estate neighbors immediately rushed him to Kubwa General Hospital after which he was transported to National Hospital in Abuja where he eventually died around 8am the following day, being yesterday.
That event affected his wife and “The woman started behaving as if she wanted to get mad. A little while she will sit, move with force and start running away. She was smuggled into a vehicle and hurriedly whisked away. We had to deceive her that her husband was still alive whereas the corpse had been deposited in the mortuary,” one of his friends, Mr Ndubuisi Nwaneri said.
Comments on social media:
Upon hearing about this incident, Nigerians are reacting angrily and raining insults on both the police Force and the government. People are even asking for the names of the policemen or even pictures so as to report the case. There was even a video on TikTok about a woman stuck in an Uber with a police man and the driver struggling with the steering on the highway. The woman is crying, begging the policeman to at least let him park the car so as to avoid accidents or crashing into something but he refuses. Thankfully the car stops and she jumps out of it, sustaining minor injuries.
This amongst other cases of police brutality has once again inflicted on us, Fear and Sadness. We keep asking ourselves, To What End? Today it’s Onyebuchi, tomorrow who will it be?
