Policemen shot my cousin during prayer, abandoned him, says lady

Juliana Francis

A lady, Fatimah Babashehu Liman, has taken to Facebook to narrate how policemen attached to Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Federal Capital Territory Command, shot and abandoned her cousin, Mr. Sadiq Ibrahim Abubakar to his fate.

According to Lima, the SARS men, on May18, at about 1:pm, jumped the fence and entered her aunt's house in Gwarinpa, Abuja, and started shooting.

She said: “Sadiq was performing ablution for Zuhr prayers and when he sighted one of the officers shooting, he thought they were robbers. Out of fear, he jumped into their neighbour's house. One of the officers shot him on the hand and he started bleeding. He was handcuffed and taken away in the police van, along with their neighbour's sons.”

She narrated that the remaining policemen broke the doors in to the house, brought out some boys, the aunt and husband, and started beating them. After beating them, the victims were whisked away. Some of the policemen returned to the scene, to pick bullet shells and left.

It was later discovered that the victims were all taken to SARS office at Guzape. Lima said: “On reaching there, they took us to see one of the heads of the office. The officer explained that the officers were chasing a kidnapper, who had demanded a ransom. He said that the kidnapper jumped into my aunt's house. They also denied shooting anybody. They claimed that Sadiq got injured by a barbed wire while trying to escape, and then, they said Sadiq was the kidnapper. After narrating our own side of the story, the officer realised there were some hidden facts. After further listening to Sadiq’s mom, the officer instructed that everyone should be released.”

Lima said that another trouble started after she demanded that the policemen should take Sadiq to the hospital and pick the bill.

“The commander and his deputy threatened to arrest me for saying that. He said everyone should be rearrested that he was not releasing anybody again,” recounted Lima.

She continued: “I insisted they should give us Sadiq for treatment, and seeing it was a gunshot injury, none of the hospitals would accept us without a police officer attached to us. I demanded that one of the police officers should accompany us to the hospital. They took Sadiq to National Hospital and left. The doctors told them to wait to submit their statement, but left. When the bandage on Sadiq's hand was removed, it was a gunshot injury. The bullet has damaged his Radius and Ulna bone, and also damaged the whole tendons on the wrist.”

Lima, who described the SARS officers as cruel and inhuman, said that the family was demanding justice for Sadiq.

The Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN Foundation), reacting on the matter, had written to the Inspector-General of Police. Mohammed Adamu, demanding investigation and justice for Sadiq and 11 other victims arrested at the same Gwarinpa venue.  

The National Coordinator, Ikule Emmanuel, who described the action of the policemen as attempted murder, further added that the arrest and detention of 11 people arrested at their resident by men of Special Task Force (STF) at SARs office Guzape as unlawful.

Emmanuel said: “Since the incident, the victim has been on admission at the National Hospital with the family paying the bills. The Police had not visited since they dropped Sadiq at the hospital. The victim would be undergoing surgery on May 20, 2020.”

The coordinator further called on the IGP to use his position to bring those responsible to book and ensured that the victims are compensated for damages to their houses. NOPRIN also demanded for full payments of the victim’s medical bills.