MILITARY JUSTIFIES KILLING OF OKADA RIDER

Commanding Officer of 222 Battalion, Lt. Col. Victor Ibeh, has said the killing of an okada rider, Dafe, by some soldiers at Ughelli on Thursday was justifiable, saying that late Dafe wanted to disarm a soldier and another soldier shot at him in the head, which resulted in his death.
Ibeh, who said this during a press briefing at Agbarha-Otor, Ughelli North Local Government, at the weekend, stated that the action of the soldier that killed Dafe was justifiable because the late Okada man wanted to disarm the soldier.
He said, “Assuming he succeeded in going away with the soldier’s magazine, it could have been disastrous. The other soldier man sensing the danger his colleague was a about to pass through released a shot; at first it did not penetrate him, and that made the soldier man to feel that the okada man was out for something else and made him to release another shot that got him in the head.
“What we regretted most is the stray bullet that hit an innocent person; as for the late okada man, he got what he bargained for. You know there are a lot of issues of insecurity ranging from kidnapping, arm robbery and others. We don’t know who is who, most of the boys that are terrorising in Kokori today have infiltrated into Ughelli and nearby villages”.
He added, “I believe that late Mr. Dafe had a different motive for attacking the soldier, he never knew there were other soldiers around, assuming the soldier was alone, it could have been more disastrous. The shot that killed Dafe was from a colleague of the soldier whom he attacked because no soldier will allow his colleague to be molested or disarmed by a civilian”.
Source: Daily Independent