Barely seven days after a policeman, Drambi Vandi, killed a pregnant Lagos Lawyer, Bolanle Raheem, on Christmas Day, 2022, another trigger-happy policeman killed a nine-year old boy, Jawad Ahmed-Rufai, while injuring three others in Katsina State.

Yusuf Ahmed-Rufai, 42, father of the murdered child, in an interview with Punch on Saturday, recounted how his son, Jawad, was killed and three others injured by a trigger-happy policeman he identified as Sergeant Nura.

Mr Ahmed-Rufai explained that the incident occured at Sabuwar Unguwar on Sunday, January 1, as the killer cop disrupted a pre-wedding party shooting. 

“Jawad fell down after the bullet him. As I learnt, the bullet hit him from his back. It was the sympathisers who then carried him to the hospital where he died later,” Mr Ahmed-Rufai said. 

Jawad was not the only victim of Sergeant Nura on January 1, according to Mr Ahmed-Rufai.

Sporadic shots from the killer cop ripped the intestines of another victim, amputated another and broke the neck of another. They all survived. 

“Jawad was the fourth person that the bullet hit on that day. There was a boy in our neighbourhood here. His name is Abdul Jamiu. A bullet cut his two fingers on the right hand. 

“There was another boy whose neck was broken when the bullet hit him. The third boy had his intestines ripped open by the bullet. However, it was only Jawad that died. Jawad died vomiting blood,” Mr Ahmed-Rufai narrated. 

The killing of Mrs Raheem on Christmas Day and young Jawad barely seven days apart, further exposes the prevalence of police brutality in the country. 

Both incidences are reminiscent of the events that led to the #EndSARS protests across major cities of the country, and the disbandment of the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian police.