The distraught father of a two-year-old boy allegedly killed by stray bullet from operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Delta Command, has cried out for justice.
The operatives on July 13, raided a suspected den for drug peddlers at Okpanam, a suburb of Asaba, Delta State, where they allegedly opened fire.
But bullets fired at the scene allegedly hit the toddler and his infant sibling on the abdomen and eye, respectively, while they were in their mother’s shop, outside of the drug den.
The bereaved father, Fidelis Okogbe Omorhia, 40, a salesman, who expressed fears that the case may be swept under the carpet because he had no influence; told The Nation yesterday that his toddler son, Ivan Omorhia, was eating corn with his mother and two other siblings in their mother’s shop, Hillsi Cakes n More Academy, when the straybullet hit him.
He said the bullet narrowly missed his wife and four year old daughter, wondering why the NDLEA operatives would shoot sporadically in a crowded and busy area.
According to him, the operatives fled the scene after they were accosted for shooting the toddler, adding that his 18-month-old baby, Eromosele, was injured in his left eye from shrapnel from shattered glasses.
He said the straybullet pierced his son’s lower abdomen, exiting from his back and further pierced a plastic chair, shattering a glass door before lodging in a cupboard.
He said both children were rushed immediately to the Federal Medical Center (FMC), Asaba, for surgery where Ivan died around midnight July 14, after doctors battled in vain to save him.
Omorhia said: “I am a complete wreck. I cannot express my pain in words. As we woke up that fateful morning, it was Ivan who prayed for the family. I had no premonition of death at all. Even when I picked them from school, they wanted me to buy icecream, but I bought cooked corn which they were eating when he was hit.
“What really happened was that I went to my kids’ school to pick them up, and dropped them off at my wife’s shop, at a Plaza close to Sweet Spirit Hotel.
“That is where my wife’s shop is located so that I can go and meet up with my other activities. As usual I pick them up after we close for the day.”
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“So, as I was going back to the house to pick up something, my house is just five minutes drive from the shop, my wife called me, sweetheart, please come! They don’t understand whether it is a bullet or anything. There is no gunshot within that environment. I then rushed back to the place, and when I got to the place, my wife called me and said that they are going to FMC, urging me to meet them there.
“It is like a gunshot because my wife said she saw my boy’s intestines coming out even the glass that the bullet penetrated, affecting my son’s eye. She held two of them and started shouting for help, that was when she then called me to meet them at FMC.
“As I was going to FMC, I said no, let me stop at the shop and know what was happening. When I got to the shop, I saw a Hilux Van, fully loaded with armed operatives of NDLEA.
“I saw another Sienna mini bus, they drove to turn at an intersection up the road and I saw another Honda saloon. The vehicles were all occupied by NDLEA operatives. So, they then parked close to my wife’s shop.
“According to the people around, they were chasing those guys that sell drugs but the guys ran away but I don’t know how the bullet got to my wife’s shop.
“So, I was trying to ask some of my neighbours. My wife just told me that there’s a gunshot that hit my boy and his intestines are coming out.
“Then one of the boys said it was the gun that was shot that hit my son. They had already parked and were trying to arrest some other boys while others ran away. The place was rowdy.
“The information I got emboldened to meet them and I was trying to take pictures and trying to take some videos. One of the operatives came out and asked why I was videoing him, asking me if I am mad.
“He then cracked his gun, I then told him that the gun you people shot has killed my son, and if you want to kill me, just kill me as I won’t leave. The guy (operative) punched me, I then held his hand. Immediately they heard that their gunshot killed my child, they immediately entered their cars and zoomed off.
“I jumped inside my car and followed them till we got to Issele-Azagba, they then stopped while I pulled over in one filling station and they came to me. I told them that the gun they shot killed my son, they said they know and they have called their Commander.
“They said I should follow them to their Head Office in Ogwashi-Uku, and getting to their office, their boss brought them out, and talked to them before coming in.
“They started pleading with me and enquired about the condition of the child and I told him that I haven’t seen him as I decided to stay around the shop to know what happened. That was when I discovered that it could be these guys who were armed.
“The Oga then said that was true. According to their Oga, he said what they told him is that they were chasing someone or that they wanted to cross the road and a bike or a vehicle hit the NDLEA guy, that was when the gun went off.
“He said I should not worry and that I should go and see my children as that is the most important thing to everybody right now and that he will send one or two persons with me. Immediately, I left for Asaba to come and see them and they told me that they were in the theatre and that they were looking for blood.
“After one and a half hour, the people that the Commander sent, then came that their Oga sent them to come and see the situation and I told them that they are trying to look for blood for him(Ivan) to survive.
“The blood they said we should donate is a fresh one and not the one they have in their blood bank. So, we were trying to look for some of my friends that came around as I could not donate because I am B positive.
“So, we then got one of my wife’s workers that is O positive who donated blood. We were running around and they were doing X-ray and all of that. About 7:00pm to 1:00am, Ivan had died because his intestines and kidneys were badly affected.
“The glass shrapnel hit my eighteen months old son in his left eye and body. They took him to the theatre yesterday at about 2:00 am and they came out at 6:00am this morning trying to ensure that the cut and wounds are treated.
“We need justice for our children. We need to take it up, it cannot just go like this. I don’t even know the condition of this one. I don’t know his fate, we need justice.
“The one that died is supposed to graduate next tomorrow. They have given the graduation gown to him,” he lamented.
State Commandant of the NDLEA, John Tunde, confirmed the incident but insisted that his men did not open fire on the kids.
Tunde said when his men stormed the notorious drug joint to raid and dislodge the place, there was a Toyota Camry parked within the precincts.
He said while the operatives were surrounding the place, the Camry “ran over one of our men while escaping. In attempts to demobilise the car, our men shot at it.
“What we cannot tell now is whether the children were inside the car at the time of the shooting. Our men did not open fire at any shop.
“As we speak now, our man who the car ran over, is at the Central Hospital in Ogwashi-Uku. Our attempt to stop the car was not successful as he escaped.
“So I can confirm that it happened but it is the true account that I have told you, we can’t be that unprofessional to open fire on a shop. I was at the hospital in the night with the father of the child. We are investigating it.”
Delta Governor, Chief Sheriff Oborevwori, yesterday, condoled with the family of the slain toddler.
In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sir Festus Ahon, the Governor said the tragic incident was regrettable and avoidable if the officers had operated based on their rules of engagement.
He urged the NDLEA authorities and the Delta Police Command to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of the boy and injury to his brother, with a view to bringing the culprits to book and avoiding a future occurrence.
“This incident is tragic, painful, and grievous because of the loss of a child and injury to his younger sibling.
“I condemn this unfortunate incident because no matter the provocation, armed security men must operate within the ambit of standard procedure as enshrined in their rules of engagement.
“Any action taken outside these international best practices could be catastrophic as in this case.
“I therefore call on the NDLEA and Police authorities to thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate incident and bring all the culprits to book,” he said.
Also, a youth group, Anioma Youth Forum Worldwide (AYF-W) in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Ekwukwo Elvis, condemned the “shocking incident”, describing the action of the anti-drug agency as “reckless”.
He raised alarm over the lack of professionalism in handling firearms by security agencies in the state, warning that killings of innocent people by security agents will no longer be tolerated.
Part of the statement reads, “Such a blatant display of unprofessionalism, where firearms are handled carelessly, resulting in the loss of innocent lives, is an occurrence that has become a recurring decimal and must not be tolerated any longer.”
He added, “the wanton disregard for safety and professional best practices demonstrated by certain operatives in Delta demands immediate attention.”
