The Edo State Police has denied the report of the shooting of a University of Benin (UNIBEN) undergraduate student at the gate of National Petroleum Development Corporation (NPDC) even as it directed a Deputy Commissioner of Police to carry out a discreet investigation in order to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident during a protest on Thursday.
In a statement yesterday in Benin by the spokesman, Mr Bello Kontongs, he explained that the incident happened when the victim, Miss Juliana Martins, a 400 level Mass Communication student fell down and injured herself during an attempt by the policemen to persuade the protesters to leave the road.
Angered by the refusal of the authorities at the oil firm to fulfil their promise of a laptop and other promises at the end of a training workshop organised by the Petroleum Industrial Act (PIA), an event organised by the NPDC, the students had taken to the streets to kick against the action.
Continuing, Kontongs, a superintendent of police said that the protest by the students from Niger Delta states was peaceful, noting that the incident happened when the police decided to clear the dual carriage way of the road linking the major express way to allow traffic flow.
The spokesman added that in an attempt by the law enforcement agents to persuade the protesters to leave the road the said lady fell down and injured herself.
He insisted that the claims of the protesters that the victim was shot is a mere conjecture and an attempt to mislead and attract sympathy from the public, given that the injury on the leg of the injured protester is obviously an abrasion.
Kontongs said: “To this end, the Commissioner of Police Edo State Command has directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police in-charge of State CID to carry out a discreet investigation in order to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incidence and therefore enjoins the general public to be calm as the Command will continue to ensure the safety of all law-abiding citizens of and those residing in Edo State.”
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