A police officer deployed to a palliative distribution centre in Rijau Local Council of Niger state has shot a 12-year-old boy, Sani Danlami, and his grandmother, Nna, over palliatives in the community.
The Guardian reports that the incident, which occurred last Sunday, followed a skirmish that engulfed the distribution unit in Rijau town.
According to the report, the police officer deployed to man the unit shot into the air to disperse the crowd; unfortunately, a stray bullet hit Danlami and his grandmother on their right hands while heading to the centre.
They were in the Internally Displaced Persons Camp at a nearby village.
Fielding questions from journalists, the chairman of the palliatives distribution committee in charge of the council, Dr Tukur Bello, said the incident was accidental.
Bello said the victims were rushed to a nearby clinic for emergency medical attention.
He said the boy, who sustained severe injuries, was later referred to the Ibrahim Badamosi Babaginda Specialist Hospital in Minna for further medical care.
He explained that the skirmish was caused by miscreants who invaded the unit and carted away some items, leading to the shooting.
Bello, also the state’s commissioner in the ministry of primary and tertiary health care, confirmed that the DPO in charge of the Rijau Divisional office had taken the defaulting officer into custody for investigation.
