Anger in Niger after SS2 student dies from 'police gun wounds'

Youths in Kuta, Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, last Monday protested the alleged police involvement in the death of a Senior Secondary School II (SSII) student.

Abubakar Sadiq, a student of Umar Faruk Bahago Secondary School, Kobwa-Kuta, reportedly died on the 21st of March, after a three-day coma, in a Kuta hospital, Leadership reports.

Irate youths took to the streets and marched on the Kuta Divisional Police Office to protest Sadiq's death.

They allege that he died as a result of injuries sustained when a policeman struck him in the head with the butt of a rifle on Wednesday the 18th of March.

According to them, the student, while riding on his motorcycle, had tried to evade a police patrol team and was hit by an officer.

He then fell and remained unconscious for three days after which he died.

But the police say Sadiq's death was not caused by an officer.

The State Command Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Ibrahim Abiodun Gambari, said the deceased ran into an oncoming van while trying to run away from the police patrol van.

could not ascertain the reason why the deceased tried to evade the police before the accident.