Delta State Police Command and the state government have debunked a viral video allegedly showing operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) shooting a man to death in Ugheli.
The Command said this in a statement issued by its Police Public Relations Officer, Onome Onovwakpoyeya, on Monday in Asaba.
It would be recalled that the video after being shared on micro-blogging platform, Twitter sparked outrage among many Nigerians, reviving the war against SARS over their continued high-handedness, extra-judicial killings, extortion and intimidation of Nigerians especially youths.
Amid the outcry, Festus Keyamo, minister of state for labour and employment, via his Twitter account clarified that the victim of the incident was not shot by SARS, but jumped out of Operation Delta Safe vehicle.
He also declared that, according to information from police boss, the young man is alive, as against widespread report, sharing pictorial evidence.
In latest development, Delta police command and the state government has in a statement described the viral video as ‘malicious’ and ‘misleading’.
It stated;
The policemen involved are not SARS operatives as earlier reported. The allegation is the handiwork of criminally minded people, who do not see anything good in the police, but want Delta State to be in turmoil.
The full statement reads;
The allegations and the said online videos about SARS operatives killing a young man in Ughelli are not only false, malicious and erroneous but also misleading. The victim was neither shot nor killed by the policemen.
The policemen involved are not SARS operatives as earlier reported. The allegation is the handiwork of criminally minded people, who do not see anything good in the police, but want Delta State to be in turmoil.
It then narrated the incident, saying;
On 3rd of October, 2020 at about 1600hrs, Operatives of Safe Delta Squad in Ughelli, while on patrol along Warri/Ughelli by Wetland Hotel Ughelli, observed a white coloured Lexus Jeep without registration number that suddenly parked by the roadside which on sighting police patrol team, the driver immediately zoomed off at high speed in a suspicious manner.
Consequently, the team gave them a hot chase and they successfully intercepted the vehicle and arrested the two occupants.
On their way to the station with the arrested suspects inside the police patrol vehicle, one of the suspects jumped out of the moving vehicle and sustained body and head injuries.
While trying to rescue him, an angry mob came out to attack the policemen, which made the team to leave the scene with the other suspect in their patrol vehicle to their office to avoid a violent confrontation with the mob.
Also, the state Commissioner for information, Charles Aniagwu, and his counterpart, in the Ministry of Youth Development, Ifeanyi Egwuyanga, said;
Nobody was shot; the man in question was arrested, but out fear, the man jumped out of the vehicle and got injured.
