New Telegraph

Newspaper vendor, shot by security detail dies in Abuja

A newspaper vendor allegedly shot by a security aide attached to the convoy of the Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, has died. New Telegraph gathered that the shooting incident occurred at the Federal Secretariat, in Abuja, yesterday, causing panic. The Federal Secretariat, which lies on the strategic Shehu Shagari way, is less than a kilometre from the gate leading to the National Assembly.

It was learnt that the victim identified as Ifeanyi Okereke, died at the National Hospital, where he was rushed to by his brother and police personnel shortly after the ugly incident occurred. According to an eyewitness account, the shooting incident took place when Okereke and other vendors ran after the speaker’s convoy in anticipation of getting “financial blessings’ from the Speaker.

The Chairman of the Newspapers Vendors Association in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Etim Eteng, told newsmen that Okereke died at the National Hospital shortly after the incident. He added that his wife gave birth to a baby on Thursday morning.

“What I learnt was that the speaker called to give them (vendors) money and the security aide just shot him (Okereke) in the head. He was rushed to the National Hospital where he died some hours later,” he said.

A colleague of the late Okereke, one Abdullahi Seidu, said the unidentified security aide could not explain why he carried out the dastardly act, when confronted by the speaker. “The bullet hit Ifeanyi in the head and he fell down. The officer who fired the gun said he wanted to fire in the air”, Seidu said. Spokesperson for the National Hospital, Dr Tayo Haastrup, was said to have confirmed the death of Okereke. “He died of gunshot injuries and would be moved from the Trauma Centre to the mortuary shortly,” he was quoted as saying.

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