The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has said it is investigating a shooting incident involving its officers during a raid of a drug joint in Asaba, Delta State.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that a young person was hit by a stray bullet and died while undergoing treatment in the hospital.
The NDLEA said in a statement released on Saturday that a team of its operatives carried out an intelligence-based raid of the joint of a notorious drug dealer in the Okpanam area of Asaba on Thursday, July 13.
During the operation, a Toyota Camry 2008 model, light blue colour, at the scene suddenly zoomed off and knocked down one of the NDLEA officers. The officer is currently in critical condition, undergoing treatment in a hospital.
In a bid to demobilise the car and prevent it from escaping, another officer fired a shot aimed at the tyre of the car, which eventually escaped.
While the injured officer was rushed for treatment, the officers got reports of a stray bullet hitting a young person. The NDLEA immediately located the father of the victim, followed him to the hospital and supported in facilitating his treatment, but the young person died in the process.
The NDLEA said it is in touch with the family to provide necessary assistance while it concludes its investigation of the incident.
The agency assured the family and members of the public that it will get to the root of the case and take necessary action.
The full statement reads:
NDLEA investigating shooting incident involving officers in Delta
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has said that it is investigating a shooting incident involving its officers during the raid of a drug joint at Okpanam area of Asaba, Delta state, where unfortunately a young person was hit by a stray bullet as a result of which he eventually died while undergoing treatment in the hospital.
The Agency in a statement on Saturday 15th July said the Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) has after receiving initial briefings from the Delta state command of NDLEA, set up a panel of top officials from the national headquarters in Abuja to immediately proceed to Asaba for an on the spot investigation of the unfortunate incident with a view to establishing the actual facts of the case.
This follows initial incident report, which reveals the following:
“A team of NDLEA operatives carried out an intelligence-based raid of the joint of a notorious drug dealer located at Okpanam area of Asaba at about 1600 hours on Thursday 13th July and in the process of the operation, a Toyota Camry 2008 model, light blue colour at the scene suddenly zoomed off and knocked down one of our officers who is currently in critical condition, undergoing treatment in a hospital.
“In a bid demobilize the car and prevent it from escaping, another officer fired a shot aimed at the tyre of the car, which eventually escaped. While the injured Officer was rushed for treatment, the officers got reports of a stray bullet hitting a young person and immediately located the father of the victim, followed him to the hospital and supported in facilitating his treatment but unfortunately died in the process.
“We’re in touch with the family to provide necessary assistance while we conclude our investigation of the incident. We will like to assure the family and members of the public that we’ll get to the root of the case and take necessary action(s).”
Femi Babafemi
Director, Media & Advocacy
NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja
Saturday 15th July 2023
