Rivers State Police Deny Involvement in Shooting During Protest

The Rivers State Police Command has denied allegations that its operatives were involved in any shooting during a recent protest in Port Harcourt.

Viral video clips have surfaced showing moments when security officers allegedly shot sporadically during a protest.

The protest was led by Ijaw youths at the Port Harcourt City Council secretariat, demonstrating against the tenure extension of local government chairmen who were expected to vacate their offices on Monday.

One of the leaders of the protesting youths, identified simply as Ichemanti, claimed that one of the demonstrators was shot by police during the incident.

However, Rivers Police Public Relations Officer, Grace Iringe-Koko, refuted these allegations in a statement to media outlets.

She stated that the police were present to ensure the protest remained peaceful and to prevent any breakdown of law and order.

“If you can see clearly in that video, there is no policeman shooting there.

You can see them peacefully moving around there because they are there to forestall the breakdown of law and order. So there is no shooting,” Iringe-Koko said.

She urged the public to refrain from spreading false information, emphasizing that the presence of gunshots does not necessarily implicate the police.

“Let’s stop circulating false stories. That you heard gunshots doesn’t mean the police are shooting. If there was any shooting, you would have seen casualties,” she added.

When asked about the identity of those responsible for the shootings, Iringe-Koko responded, “You were not there and I was not there but you can trust me when I say the policemen deployed to the area were not shooting.”