The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, on Saturday, reacted to a shooting incident involving its officers during the raid of a drug joint in the Okpanam area of Asaba, Delta state, where unfortunately a two-year-old boy was hit by a stray bullet.

The agency said it is investigating the incident.

The boy, named Ivan Onose eventually died while undergoing treatment at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Asaba, the state capital.

This was disclosed in a statement issued by the agency’s Spokesman, Femi Babafemi.

The statement said, “The Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) has after receiving initial briefings from the Delta state command of NDLEA, set up a panel of top officials from the national headquarters in Abuja to immediately proceed to Asaba for an on-the-spot investigation of the unfortunate incident with a view to establishing the actual facts of the case.

“This follows an initial incident report, which reveals the following: “A team of NDLEA operatives carried out an intelligence-based raid of the joint of a notorious drug dealer located at Okpanam area of Asaba at about 1600 hours on Thursday 13th July and in the process of the operation, a Toyota Camry 2008 model, light blue colour at the scene suddenly zoomed off and knocked down one of our officers who is currently in critical condition, undergoing treatment in a hospital.

“In a bid to demobilise the car and prevent it from escaping, another officer fired a shot aimed at the tyre of the car, which eventually escaped. While the injured Officer was rushed for treatment, the officers got reports of a stray bullet hitting a young person and immediately located the father of the victim, followed him to the hospital, and supported in facilitating his treatment but unfortunately died in the process.

“We’re in touch with the family to provide necessary assistance while we conclude our investigation of the incident. We will like to assure the family and members of the public that we’ll get to the root of the case and take necessary action(s).”

NDLEA investigating shooting incident involving officers in Delta pic.twitter.com/ntv4otX1yx

— NDLEA NIGERIA (@ndlea_nigeria) July 15, 2023

Kanyi Daily earlier reported that the Delta State Police Command through its Spokesman, Bright Edafe said the command is aware of the sad incident and it has been transferred to the SCID Asaba and all parties involved will appear before the CP on Monday.

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