The Enugu State Command of the Nigeria Police Force, on Tuesday, said a seven-year-old boy, who allegedly killed a another boy in Enugu, was in ‘protective custody’ and not in detention as was being claimed by his mother.
The boy, a primary two pupil, has been held by the police since May 30, a day after he accidentally shot and killed a 12-year-old boy, Oluebube Boniface in the Independence Layout area of Enugu.
The gun belonged to Mr. Edwin Oforma, who employed the seven-year-old’s mother, Mrs. Nwakaego Oramalu, as a housekeeper in his house.
Oramalu explained that her son accidentally fired the gun after discovering it in Oforma’s room while making the bed, as he was instructed by Oforma’s son, Chukwunanu,
It was learnt that Oforma and his son have not been seen since the incident.
Oramalu, and her lawyer, Mr. Olu Omotayo, of the Civil Rights Realisation and Advancement Network, had raised the alarm over the little boy’s continued detention.
Omotayo demanded the boy’s immediate release and an investigation into his detention in a petition to the Inspector General of Police, Police Headquarters, Abuja.
However, the Enugu State Police Command has said it only placed the boy in protective custody.
The Commissioner of Police, Enugu State, Mr. Emmanuel Ojukwu, who addressed journalists in Enugu, said Chibuike was not in detention.
Ojukwu said the police were holding the boy in order to protect him from jungle justice.
He explained that an angry mob which gathered after the accidental killing of Oluebube wanted to lynch the boy and his mother.
He said, “The community rallied round to kill the boy so we had to put him in protective custody. We already lost one person owing to that unfortunate incident; we didn’t want to lose another person.”
He said but for the actions of the police, the mob would have set Oforma’s house on fire.
“We also protected the house because the angry residents wanted to set it ablaze,” Ojukwu said.
“As we speak, policemen are still guarding the compound – we don’t want to lose another life or property.”
He said the boy would be freed in due course.
All Credits: PUNCH
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