A 21 year-old girl, Fauziyya Sulaiman was on Sunday shot dead in broad day light by policemen on patrol in Unguwar Rimi, Kaduna.
The girl who lived with her parents in Badarawa quarters was until her death a Dental Therapy student at the School of Science and Health Technology, Kaduna.
She was allegedly shot dead by a patrol officer Ahmed Usman attached to the state security outfit, Operation Yaki. She was said to be waiting for a commercial tricycle at a bus stop around 5pm after attending the wedding ceremony of her friend when she was shot dead by the police, according to reports from Daily Trust.
The police inspector Ahmed Usman attached to the patrol team allegedly opened fire on the girl. The bullet reportedly went through her bowels and hit another man named Malam Hassan in the leg.
Late Fauziyya’s father, Alhaji AbdulRazak Muhammad Sulaiman who lives in Badarawa Kaduna said the family was devastated and at a loss why a policeman who ought to protect his daughter ended up killing her. He said the mother of the deceased Amina Mohammed was still dumb struck and “utterly puzzled.” Sulaiman, who works with the Kaduna State Ministry of Education vowed to take legal action against the police.
He said when he visited the Military Reference hospital where her daughter was taken to; one of the officers on patrol told him that she was shot by an inspector who was in the patrol team. “I went and met the inspector with a name tag displaying Ahmed Usman and asked him why he killed my daughter, but he could not talk. He eventually confessed that he shot her by mistake,” he said.
The police spokesman in Kaduna Aminu Lawan confirmed the incident. He said Fauziyya was hit by a stray bullet which was fired by the patrol team. He said the officers attempted to disperse some reckless motorcycle riders at the wedding ground. “But youths started throwing pebbles at the officers before they fired. The girl was hit by the bullet and one other person sustained minor injury,” Lawan said.
He said the entire six patrol officers have been arrested and an investigation has commenced to determine why they fired.