Oyo State Police Command has said that forensic evidence cleared its officers, Inspector Gbenga Ayodele and Sergeant Ayilaran Boluwaji, in the 2021 shooting of Nurudeen Azeez, an Ibadan Polytechnic graduate.
Both officers, attached to the Agodi Divisional Police Headquarters, had responded to a robbery alert.
In a statement on Saturday by the Command’s spokesman, DSP Ayanlade Olayinka, the Police stressed that an investigation concluded in 2021 exonerated the officers.
“Following its recent resurfacing in a viral video and newspaper publication, the Command considers it necessary to restate the findings of the investigation,” the statement noted.
The victim
The graduate of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Azeez, aged 30, told newsmen recently that he is still battling the devastating effects of being struck by a police bullet five years after the incident.
Azeez, a native of Ibadan, said on August 16, 2021, he was hit by a bullet while riding on a commercial motorcycle from Iwo Road to his hostel in the Ijokodo area of the city.
He said there was traffic around Idi-Ape, which made the okdaman to take an alternative route.
“As soon as the motorcycle moved, I suddenly heard gunshots. A bullet struck my spinal cord, and I immediately collapsed on the motorcycle.
“A police officer came to where I had fallen and asked me to stand up. But I could not move. In the confusion, some passers-by who heard the gunshots rushed to the scene, and the officers fled,” he said.
Azeez said he was assured of assistance with his medical treatment, but that the support gradually diminished.
Police deny shooting
The Police statement denying involvement of its officers noted that
“Fifteen pellets were removed. Thirteen were documented, while six were registered as exhibits.”
The two officers’ duty and firearm records were obtained during the investigation.
The statement read, “The records confirmed that they had signed out two AK-47 rifles for their assignment that night.”
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