Nigerians have accused Benue State Police of lying in a press statement about the actions of its policemen which killed Emmanuella Ahenjir, a student of Kwararafa University in Wukari, Taraba State, on Friday.
Reports show that the police were on a routine stop-and-search duty that morning when they shot at the vehicle Ahenjir was in. The incident happened at Wurukum Roundabout, Makurdi.
In the wake of the news and growing criticism of the police, Benue State Police Command issued a press statement over the weekend, but Nigerians on social media have poked holes in the police’s story.
In its defence, the police command claimed that the police team deployed to the area had flagged down the vehicle, but instead of stopping, the driver turned back, drove through the opposite lane, “shooting sporadically at them”. The police claimed it responded with a gunshot, after which the driver sped away.
The police also said they had pursued the vehicle until around 10 am on the day of the incident when they received information that Ahenjir had died from a gunshot wound at Benue State University Teaching Hospital.
The statement, dated Friday but posted on the command’s X page on Saturday, reads: On 16/5/2025 at about 4:00 am a radio message was received from a police team deployed at Duku park, Wurukum that the team flaged down a vehicle coming from Benuelinks area but the driver turned back, drove through the opposite lane shooting sporadically at them, but they responded with a shot and the driver drove away.
The police were on the trail of the vehicle until about 10:00 am this morning when information was received that a lady named Emmanuella Ahenjir, student of Federal University, Wukari, Taraba State had died at Benue State University Teaching Hospital from a gunshot. Upon arrival at the hospital, the detectives were briefed about the deceased and corpse deposited at the hospital morgue for autopsy.
Meanwhile, Apase Keghter, an occupant of the vehicle, whom the police said they found at the hospital and invited for questioning, told them that he and other passengers had gone clubbing and were returning when they drove on the opposite lane and passed a police checkpoint without stopping. He also said they did not shoot at the police.
Instead, they were shot at by the police and had driven to the welfare quarters with the victim. They stopped due to a flat tyre and called a commercial vehicle that took them to the hospital.
While the police promised a detailed investigation, many Nigerians expressed skepticism in the comments section and viewed the explanation as a likely fabricated story to absolve themselves of blame.
Commenting via @POTFRNG, Ikakunmi said, “Virtually everyone in the comment section can read through the badly written bloody lies. I’ll continue advocating for the mass sacking of police officers and the employment of new, freshly trained officers with certificates in psychology or equivalent. You guys are a bunch of wicked, untrainable, selfish, cruel and only God will judge you all!”
@Wire__7 said the story made no sense, and @SeedeyGood said it seemed “like a back office cooked up bullsh*t”. @thatniggastone, who also expressed skepticism, wondered how “they responded with a shot” yet it resulted in one death and another injury. He added in Pidgin: “Una never ready [to] talk truth.“
Maxville wrote via his handle @im_maxville: “How long and what would it take for NPF officers to wear body cams? In the heat of the heightened security challenges and cops’ uncivilised behaviours, isn’t it necessary for our officers to always have body cams? No citizen of this country will believe this story here, sir.”
@Stevenstevv said, “We can never believe anything coming from the Nigeria Police.” This is just as Eden Johnson said, “I’ve read this 5 times so far. I will now take a break and read it the 6th time, maybe a bit slowly.”
For Ike Zuby, the explanation was nothing but “Lies that you can’t even tell to a baby” and Jedall Marcelo said, “Your men opened fire at them. They were coming from a show and had no reason to hold guns.
You guys are worse than the criminals you protect us from.”
