By Jude Atupulazi
Tragedy occurred in Ibadan, Oyo State, recently, when a policeman’s stray bullet claimed the life of a young student on his way to sit for the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) exams.
Eyewitnesses reported that the officer, in pursuit of a fleeing vehicle along the busy Gbagi Market Road, opened fire in an attempt to stop a suspect.
One of the bullets allegedly missed its target and struck a schoolboy who was riding on his father’s motorcycle alongside his twin brother.
Sources said the boy was immediately rushed to the Welfare Hospital but was declared dead on arrival.
According to bystanders, the deceased and his twin were en route to their examination centre at the time of the incident.
The sympathizers and market traders at the scene, in protest, took the boy’s body to the Oyo State Secretariat.
There, demonstrators demanded immediate justice and sought an audience with Governor Seyi Makinde.
In a video that circulated online, security personnel were seen attempting to control the growing crowd, while sympathizers called for transparency, accountability, and urgent reform in police engagement protocols in public places.
As of press time, neither the Oyo State Police Command nor the state government had issued an official statement on the incident.
This incident is yet another one in a long list of killing of citizens by police personnel across the country, with the offenders often going scot free.
