The Yobe State Commissioner of Police, Abdulmalik Sunumani, has confirmed the killing of a 14-year-old boy at a police checkpoint in Damaturu, the state capital.

Sunumani, who described the incident as unfortunate, said the driver of the vehicle was trying to beat a police checkpoint with a smuggled Mercedes Benz car, prompting one of the policemen on duty to open fire on the vehicle, which was carrying the boy and his mother.

Sunumani said the driver picked the woman with her son in Kano on his way from Lagos to Maiduguri, adding that investigation into the matter is still ongoing.

“What happened was an unfortunate incident. From what my men told me, they got information from the last checkpoint that a Mercedes Benz car was coming without any registration number. When the car arrived at the checkpoint, he couldn’t stop and one of my men opened fire at the vehicle and a bullet hit the boy who was rushed to the hospital but later died. We have not concluded investigation but this is how much I can tell you,” he said.

Our correspondent gathered the mother of the deceased was transporting three bags of 50kg of kolanut to Maiduguri for sale. (The Guardian)

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