Police dismiss video alleging SARS killing in Delta

Delta Police Command on Monday, dismissed a video clip alleging that operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) shot a man to death in Ughelli town, Delta State.

DSP Onome Onovwakpoyeya, said in a statement on Monday in Asaba, that the video, which went viral, was the handiwork of mischief-makers.

“The attention of the Nigeria Police Force, Delta State Command has been drawn to trending online videos and posts alleging SARS Operatives of shooting a young man to death in Ughelli.

“The allegations in the online video about SARS operatives killing a young man in Ughelli are not only false, malicious and erroneous but also misleading.

“The victim was neither shot nor killed by the policemen. The policemen involved are not SARS operatives as earlier reported.

“The allegation is the handiwork of criminally-minded people who do not see anything good in the Police, but want Delta State to be in turmoil,’’ Onovwakpoyeya said.

The police image maker said the Command deemed it necessary to put the record straight and to state the facts of the matter as it happened.

According to her, operatives of Safe Delta Squad in Ughelli, who were on patrol along the Warri/Ughelli Road, Ughelli, on Oct. 3, sighted a white Lexus Jeep which did not have a registration number.

She added that the patrol team visited the victim in the hospital where he was being treated and saw him alive and recuperating.

“The Commissioner of Police, Delta State Command, Hafiz Inuwa, therefore, urges members of the public to discountenance the online video.

“The viral video is fake and a malicious publication as it has no connection with the incident in Ughelli,’’ Onovwakpoyeya stressed.

The police spokesperson recalled a similar incident where some kidnappers recently abducted a woman alongside her two children in her car in the same Ughelli. NAN