The Ogun State Police Command has reportedly confirmed that Nollywood actor and director Azeez Ijaduade was accidentally hit by a discharged shot from a police officer on Sunday.
LEADERSHIP reports that news had circulated in the early hours of Sunday morning alleging that the Nollywood actor was shot in Iperu Remo, Ogun State.
His colleague, Abiodun Adebanjo, had revealed via Instagram that Ijaduade was shot by a member of the Nigerian police personnel in Iperu, calling for urgent assistance for the injured director.
A post shared by the actor read, “Please we need help in Iperu. My director, Azeez Ijaduade, @kingzeez1, was shot by Nigerian police personnel. He is presently at Babcock University Teaching Hospital. Anybody with the contacts of the Police IG or Commissioner should reach out.”
However, PUNCH Newspaper reported that the State Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, had in an interview said the incident occurred when an officer attached to the executives of Bramajaj Company Limited, Ogere Remo, “accidentally discharged a shot from his rifle” during the company’s end-of-year party at a hotel in Iperu.
Reportedly, Ijaduade, along with his crew and other actors, was engaged in a movie shoot at the same hotel when the shot struck the Nollywood actor in the neck.
The police have confirmed that the injured actor was promptly taken to the hospital, where he is currently receiving treatment and is reported to be in stable condition.
It is not the first time that police officers have injured or, in most cases, killed Nigerians by accidental discharge of their firearms. In April 2023, a 17-year-old, Ibuchim Ofezie, was killed in Jos, the Plateau State capital, after being hit by a stray bullet.
The Plateau State Commissioner of Police, Bartholomew Onyeka, in a press release at the time described the incident as a paradox, asserting that police officers are empowered by law to bear firearms to save the citizenry and not kill them.
In August, a 41-year-old man, identified as OlafuroPeterside, was allegedly killed in the presence of his wife and three children by a stray bullet from a mobile police officer attached to Gombe State Police Command.
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