The Nigeria Police Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, has again come under heavy criticism over his tweet justifying the shooting of unarmed Nigerians by policemen.
A Twitter user, Ehisreal2 on Thursday condemned how a policeman opened fire on a suspect around a university environment.
According to Ehisreal2 “I was eating at a restaurant close to a university today. suddenly saw two police men chasing a guy, the said guy was running furiously. one of the police man shot at the direction where the boy was running. omo..I was baffled. But why shoot at an unarmed man?” he posted.
Reacting to the post, Adejobi claimed the action wasn’t illegal.
He said, “Yes. You can shoot at an unarmed man, if he is a fleeing suspect who has committed a felony, or inmate who escaped from a lawful custody, or he had committed a felonious offence, which upon conviction, he would be sentenced to death or life imprisonment, etc.”
However, the tweet did not go down well with Twitter users who accused him of justifying an illegal act and not respecting the fundamental rights of Nigerians.
Yes. You can shoot at an unarmed man, if he is a fleeing suspect who has committed a felony, or inmate who escaped from a lawful custody, or he had committed a felonious offence, which upon conviction, he would be sentenced to death or life imprisonment, etc. https://t.co/GQIam7LrJl
— Prince Olumuyiwa Adejobi (@Princemoye1) July 6, 2023
Mr PRO sir, Are you telling the public your men are not physically fit enough to chase & apprehend unarmed suspect who still has a case to answer?,& u advised the best option is to shoot.
— Mr Sam (@Amebosam) July 7, 2023
Ur men are reading ur post believe me they abuse it. https://t.co/EZDn9MXMJh
I’m sorry but this is d most useless take in policing. Is this what Nigeria policing about? Shooting at an unarmed person running from you? Can’t you chase them? Who trained you guys? Why is everything about NPF backwards? The insanity in NPF is real. You all need proper training https://t.co/u8Qn06xlsN
— YO (@yemi90) July 7, 2023
1. Unarmed.
— Frankopolo (@franqopolo) July 7, 2023
2. Suspect.
3. Fleeing….not charging towards you. https://t.co/hJjU3NoUCC
What an unintelligent human! Someone was running close to a university, and your touts shot at his direction and you're here talking rubbish. So if this guy run into your village market, the police are justified to open fire just so he won't escape? Wow. We learn everyday. Ire oo https://t.co/m7ALEvZVy8
— Onyedika (@joindiz) July 6, 2023
One of the reasons pple leave Nigeria is something like this. Imagine u are walking by and a Policeman is shooting at an unarmed man fleeing and it hits you.
— Dr HN (@osheguy) July 7, 2023
Oh, you are earning well. You are even the CEO of your company. You don die be say u don die. And Oga PRO is justifying it https://t.co/iJgrzKseSH
Shoot at a fleeing criminal in public with people around?. This man doesn't disappoint with his replies, and the force headquarters for better PR should get a better fit for this job. You are clearly bad at it unfortunately. https://t.co/C9PYnOqAy0
— Frank (@Notatroblemaker) July 7, 2023