Justice at last for Victor

Late Emmanuel Victor

AT last, justice has come the way of the oppressed. In a bold statement by a Nigerian court, a trigger-happy policeman has been sentenced to death by hanging after he was found guilty of gratuitously killing a young man in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, a little over two years ago.

Although the judgement delivered by Justice Lucky Boufili will not bring 20-year-old Emmanuel Victor back to life, his mother, Grace, in whose presence the boy was shot, and other members of the family can take cold comfort from the fact that the perpetrator, Matthew Egheghe, will not go scot-free. 

They can also be consoled by the knowledge that the courageous judgement will send a message to other security agents who take pleasure in routinely gunning down innocent citizens of this country in circumstances that tend to promote impunity.

Reports have it that, on that fateful day, Victor was returning from church, when he noticed policemen extorting money from some motorists.

 He probably felt compelled to intervene. Victor, therefore, reportedly confronted the policemen, asking them to stop their illegal activity. But rather than heed his admonition, Egheghe was said to have aimed his gun at him and shot him at point-blank range.

Hear the grief-stricken mother: “They shot my son brutally. As he fell while they were shooting him, the tallest of them still continued shooting him on the ground.” The distressed mother said she could do little to stop the killers from snuffing life out of her son.

Even when she rushed to pick up her shot son, she said she was threatened and forced to stay away. She watched helplessly as his youthful life gradually ebbed away with each gush of blood from his body. What a ruthless display of bestiality towards a citizen by people paid to protect lives.