A newspaper vendor has been shot dead by one of the security aides of Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila.
The deceased, whose name was given as Ifeanyi, was hit by a stray bullet on Thursday meant to disperse a crowd after Gbajabiamila went to greet the vendors while leaving the National Assembly.
The Lagos lawmaker confirmed the development in a series of tweets on Friday morning.
“A horrible incident has taken place. This evening as I left the national assembly, I stopped, as usual, to exchange pleasantries with the newspaper vendors at the corner,” he explained.
“Many of them have known me since I first moved to Abuja and it was a friendly exchange. Unfortunately, after the convoy set out in continuation of movement, unidentified men obstructed the convoy which got the attention of security men in the convoy who shot into the air to disperse them.”
Gbaja narrated that some hours after they got to their destination, he was informed that a man named Ifeanyi was hit by a stray bullet.
He said this was “contrary to an earlier report by men in the convoy that they applied their security discretion to shoot in the air.”
The speaker added: “In the meantime; the officer who fired the fatal shot has been suspended from the convoy pending the conclusion of the investigation.”
While sending his condolences to the family of the deceased, Gbajabiamila expressed distraught over the incident.
This is really heart rending. Was there any threat to the life of Gbaja or his convoy to warrant any form of shooting? Haba! Poor Vendor! So unfortunate.