By Our Reporter
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has described the killing of a newspaper vendor in Abuja by one of his security details as horrible, saying he is distraught by the incident.
Gbajabiamila, in a statement he personally signed and issued in the early hours of Friday, said he did not know that someone was killed in the attempt to protect him until he arrived his destination.
The PUNCH had reported how a security aide to the Speaker shot the vendor in the head.
The incident, which occurred at the Federal Secretariat, Abuja, around 3 pm on Thursday, had caused panic in the area.
The victim, identified as Ifeanyi Okereke, was subsequently rushed to the National Hospital by his brother and some police officers, where he reportedly died.
It was learnt that the shooting happened when Okereke and other street vendors selling on the Shehu Shagari Way, Three Arms Zone, flocked around the convoy of the Speaker, who was said to be in the habit of giving out money anytime he passed them.
The Speaker’s statement read, “A horrible incident has taken place. This evening as I left the national assembly, I stopped as usual to exchange pleasantries with the newspaper vendors at the corner. Many of them have known me since I first moved to Abuja and it was a friendly exchange.
“Unfortunately, after the convoy set out in continuation of movement, unidentified men obstructed the convoy which got the attention of security men in the convoy who shot into the air to disperse them.
