Policeman shoots tanker driver over ‘too little bribe’

Two policemen may be dismissed from the Force for allegedly shooting a tanker driver for refusing to jack up the N100 bribe he offered them along Wudil Federal High-Way in Kano, northwest Nigeria on Monday.

Witnesses said hundreds of aggrieved tanker drivers blocked the major highway linking Kano to Jigawa, Bauchi, Yobe and Borno states to protest the shooting.

The Commissioner of Police who ordered for the immediate arrest and trial of the policemen, a sergeant and an Inspector, said his Command must ensure that they pay for their misdeeds.

Police: illegal shooting of tanker driver

“The Police flagged down the Tanker driver who was on his way to Kano and allegedly requested for a bribe; and the Tanker driver obliged and gave them a tip of N100, but the police men insisted that the money was too small. It was at this point that argument ensued and one of the police men pulled a trigger and shot the Tanker driver on the leg,” said an eyewitness.

Spokesman of the Command , ASP Musa Magaji Majia described the incident as worrisome, adding that the Police authorities are footing the hospital bills of the Tanker driver who was shot on the leg, “he is currently in stable condition,” Majia told our Correspondent.

“Once we received the signal from the area, we quickly moved in and ensured the arrest of the trigger-happy officer as well as his supervisor, an Inspector on the order of the Commissioner of Police.

“We took the injured driver to the hospital, foot his medical bill and also deployed an officer to watch over his safety while recuperating in his hospital bed. Justice will be done as we are prepared to sacrifice those men if they fail to prove their innocence. They must be tried in line with the established order and regulations,” Majia added.

‘How my son’s private part was removed’ - Worried Father

 Mallam Halilu Liman is the father of a 12 year old boy, whose private part was allegedly removed. He spoke today on how the incident occurred.

Mallam Halilu Liman, who hails from Bauchi Local Government Area of Bauchi State said on January 3, 2012, his neighbour’s son called Tukur Iliyasu, asked his son, Ayuba, to accompany him to a nearby bush to fetch firewood.

Liman added that on their way to the bush, his son stepped on a thorn and requested Tukur to help him remove it, but that instead of helping him, Tukur brought out a sharp knife and removed his son’s private part, and cut his throat.

He said, thinking that the boy had died, Tukur fled to an unknown destination.

“But my son managed and crawled home where he narrated what happened”, he said.

Liman further said that the matter was reported to the Divisional Police Officer of Yalwa, who assigned a policeman to take the victim to the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH) Bauchi, from where he was transferred to the Federal Medical Center, Gombe, where he is receiving treatment.

He said the DPO of Yalwa Division invited the father of the suspect, who resides in a village called Sabon Garin Gikar in Alkaleri Local Government, and ordered him to bring his son, but that up till now, he has not been able to produce his son.

Speaking on the matter, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, ASP Hassan Mohammed Auyo, said the police have done a lot to save the life of the boy