My security detail killed newspaper vendor in Abuja –Speaker Gbajabiamila confirms

Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives, has confirmed that one of the security operatives attached to him shot a citizen dead.

The incident occurred in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Thursday.

In a personal statement issued Friday morning, the lawmaker narrated that in the evening as he left the National Assembly, he stopped to greet newspaper vendors.

The Surulere representative said it was a friendly exchange as many of them have known him since he first moved to Abuja
He recalled that after the convoy set out in continuation of movement, unidentified men obstructed it, which made the security men “shot into the air to disperse them”.

The Speaker said after getting to their destination hours later, he was informed that someone was hit by a stray bullet.

“Contrary to an earlier report by men in the convoy that they applied their security discretion to shoot in the air. I have caused a report to be made to the local police station and an investigation has commenced,” he said.

Gbajabiamila disclosed that the officer who fired the fatal shot has been suspended pending the conclusion of the inquiry.

“My value for human life and my respect for all people – irrespective of socio-economic status – is what endeared me to these vendors and these are the reasons why I stop my convoy quite often to connect with them.

“For one of them to have been shot by my security detail is horrific and I cannot begin to imagine the grief and loss Ifeanyi’s family must feel on this sad day. No family should have to go through this,” he said.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain added that he was distraught about the death and offered his sympathies to the victim’s family and Abuja vendors.