By Kelvin Adegbenga
Accidental shootings by the police and other law enforcement officers have been happening recently at agencies, small and large, and at all levels in various countries, including African countries like Nigeria.
For far too long, the rate of “accidental” shootings of civilians by the police and other law enforcement officers in Nigeria has remained very troubling. The latest is the one that happened in Oyo State, where policemen accidentally shot and killed a secondary schoolboy in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State.
I learnt that the boy was in his father’s car and was heading to school for his West African Examinations Council paper when the police’s gunshot hit him. He was confirmed dead at Welfare Hospital, where he was rushed to.
Generally, accidental firearm discharge has caused hundreds of injuries to bystanders, officers, and suspects, and, sometimes, they have caused deaths.
When an officer is cleaning or emptying a weapon or is experiencing an adrenaline rush while responding to a call, there may be instances where a gun goes off without the officer’s knowledge. Some shootings happen as a result of the cop slipping, involuntary muscle reactions, or drug or alcohol involvement.
Experts have established that all gun accidents are caused by some degree of negligence because the officer broke one or more of the four universal gun safety principles at some point. Keep your finger off the trigger, assume that all guns are loaded, aim the muzzle in a safe direction, and be certain of your target and what lies beyond it.
Rather than sympathise with the family of the 17-year-old student, the failed presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, took to his X handle to display his lunacy by saying, “…As long as retired, tired, and incompetent Kayode Egbetokun remains in charge as the Illegal General of Police, things will never change for the better.”
This reminded me of Nigeria’s former Ambassador to Namibia, Ambassador Lilian Onoh, who told the U.S. District Court of Northern Texas that the anti-corruption reputation of the failed presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, is fake.
I firmly believe that Omoyele Sowore is being funded by individuals who have engaged him to tarnish the reputation of the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, at every opportunity.
Omoyele, according to my great-grandfather, means a child that merits home, but it seems the meaning of Sowore’s Omoyele means someone who has betrayed the values of honesty, integrity, and communal responsibility.
Many have described Sowore as the “hatchet man” for corrupt Nigerian politicians who pay him to discredit their opponents with leaked documents, after which he would claim that he was exposing corruption to deceive “well-meaning but gullible American and Western Civil Liberties Organisations” that he was fighting corruption.
Sowore is so lucky in the sense that the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, is more committed to his vision of creating a professional, service-driven, rule-of-law-compliant, and people-friendly police force.
I know of some former IGPs who would have sent Sowore to a correctional centre if he had defamed their name as he seems to be doing now.
While Egbetokun is busy building a Police Force that is professionally competent, service-driven, rule-of-law compliant, and people-friendly, a Police Force that will effectively support the agenda of government for economic recovery and growth as well as social and political development of our dear country, Nigeria, Sowore is busy interloping in matters that are not his concern.
On several occasions, the IGP has emphasised a zero-tolerance policy for unprofessional behaviour, misconduct, and any actions that undermine public trust. He has vowed to take firm disciplinary action against any police personnel who misbehave or engage in misconduct.
My advice to Sowore is to shift his energy to his political career in his Ilaje community instead of his continuous lamentation against IGP Kayode Egbetokun, who will finish his tenure in 2027, as his tenure is backed by the Police Act 2020 (as amended).
Kelvin Adegbenga is the National Coordinator of Integrity Youth Alliance and can be reached via kelvinadegbenga@yahoo.com
