An autopsy report may have indicted some policemen serving at the Bayelsa State Police Command over the brutal killing of a teenager, Innocent Kokorifa.

The 17-year-old Innocent was shot dead at Okaka area of Yenagoa by a team of policemen attached to the Anti-Vice Police Squad of the command on 18 August 2016.

The boy, who passed his subjects very well in the May/June 2016 Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE), was killed while returning from an errand that his mother sent him in the morning of the fateful day.

Independent gathered on Monday that the autopsy on Innocent’s body was conducted at the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa, in the presence of two police officers from Zone 5, Benin, Edo State, family members of the deceased, human rights activists and medical personnel.

Daniel Kokorifa, the father of the deceased, said that the autopsy was successful as it confirmed that his son was shot dead.

He said that “the police and the doctors, everybody agreed that the autopsy report shows that it was bullet that killed my son.”

“I’m glad that it has been confirmed that my son’s death was caused by the police officer’s bullet. In this our country, everything has procedure, you cannot take the laws into your hands.

“When I see my son lying down there (in the mortuary), I was confused, I don’t know what to do. We are going to miss him and I’m sure justice will prevail in this matter.”

In his remark, Ebikibina Augustine, a human rights activist, noted that the autopsy report had given credence to police investigation into Innocent’s demise, stressing that “justice must surely prevail.”

“I must admit that initially the police were reluctant in the investigation but with the report I’m satisfied because the autopsy is just due process for the police to conclude their investigation on the culpability of the Anti-Vice police officers in this matter.”

The gruesome killing of Innocent had sparked off condemnations by concerned human rights activists after the Bayelsa State Police Command issued a statement, labelling him “a member of a three-man notorious armed robbery gang.”

When contacted at 2:03pm, Asinim Butswat, the Police Public Relations Officer of the command, said he had not been briefed on the outcome of the autopsy and promised to call back after 10 minutes, but he had yet do so more than two hours after. (Independent)

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