The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has denied viral reports suggesting that human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore was shot on Monday by a police officer at the Unity Fountain, Abuja.
Sowore had taken to his twitter handle on Monday to allege that he had been shot by a female police officer during a protest which held at Unity Fountain on Monday.
“Just been shit by a police officer, ACP Atine at the Unity Fountain in Abuja. #RevolutionNow Let the struggle continue even if they take my life! #BuhariMustGo”, he tweeted.
Also, several persons relayed the incident on social media, insisting that teargas shot was fired at the activist.
The New Diplomat had reported that an activist, Deji Adeyanju confirmed the incident.
Also, footage of the incident showed Sowore falling on the ground after the canister hit him.
However, in a statement, the FCT police command dismissed the allegations, describing it as false as it claimed nothing was done by the police to harm Sowore.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Police Public Relations Officer(PPRO), FCT Command, ASP Mariam Yusuf.
According to the statement, the police officers at the protest which held at Unity Fountain were carrying out their duties to prevent any breakdown of law and order.
Yusuf also urged residents to remain calm and law-abiding while reaffirming police commitment towards the protection of lives and property within the Federal Capital Territory.
The statement partly reads, “Contrary to the speculation, Police operatives professionally restored calm at the Unity Fountain following attempts by a group of protesters to incite public disturbance.
“The protesters who went on the rampage were resisted by Police Operatives in order to prevent them from causing a breakdown of law and order. There is no record of such incident as at the time of this release.”
