Delta Gov condemns killing of two-year-old boy by NDLEA operatives

Tamarauemi Ebimini

Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, has decried the killing of a two-year-old boy by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Delta Command, at Okpanam area of the state.

The two years old pre-nursery school pupil, Ivan Omorhiakogbe, was accidentally killed by a stray bullet from NDLEA operatives chasing suspected drug dealers in the area last Thursday.

An eyewitness said the operatives were trying to arrest some boys suspected to be drug peddlers, but one of the suspects tried to zoom off in a car and the anti-drug officials in the process of demobilising the vehicle, shot sporadically, and a stray bullet hit Ivan in the lower abdomen as he was being picked up from school by his parents.

The bullet also scratched his younger brother, Eromonsele, in one of his eyes.

Ivan was rushed to Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Asaba, where he was confirmed dead, but his brother was stabilised and recovering.

The governor, in his heart-felt condolences to the Omorhiakogbes, said the tragic incident was regrettable and avoidable if the officers had operated based on their rules of engagement.

Oborevwori, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Festus Ahon, called on the NDLEA authorities and the Delta Police Command to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of the boy and the injury to his brother, with a view to bringing the culprits to book and avoiding a recurrence.

Meanwhile, the NDLEA has said it was investigating the incident.

The agency, in a statement by its Director, Media and Advocacy, Mr. Femi Babafemi, yesterday, stated that NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd), has set up an investigation panel, consisting of top officials from the national headquarters, after receiving initial briefings on the incident and directed the investigators to immediately proceed to Asaba to establish the actual facts of the case.

He stated that NDLEA had been in touch with the bereaved family.

On its part, the state Police Command, while confirming the incident, which it described as sad and tragic, said it was truly disturbed by the killing.

The Command spokesman, Bright Edafe, said the Commissioner of Police, Wale Abass, has directed that the matter be transferred to the State Crime Investigation Department (CID), adding that it was already being investigated.

He stated that all the parties involved had been invited and would appear before Abass on Monday, July 17, at the Command’s headquarters in Asaba.