The Nigerian police have said that the security officers captured in a viral video killing an unarmed civilian were from a “sister security agency”, and not from the police.
An amateur video being circulated on Twitter and Facebook shows two armed security officers dragging an unarmed young man through the street, before firing at him at close range.
The man fell down on the floor and appeared to have died instantly.
“It has been established that the armed men in the viral video are not officers of the @PoliceNG but operatives of a sister security agency,” the police said Tuesday on Twitter through its Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit (PCRRU).
The PCRRU tweeted using its Twitter handle @PoliceNG_PCRRU.
As a follow-up tweet, the police said, “All the men rounded up in the video are members of a violent kidnap for ransom syndicate who were tracked down to the said location.”
Another tweet from the police suggested the incident may have happened in Benin City, Edo State, on Tuesday.
RT: UPDATE ON #PCRRU908001.
It has been established that the armed men in the viral video are not officers of the @PoliceNG but operatives of a sister security agency.
All the men rounded up in the video are members of a violent kidnap for ransom syndicate who were tracked… pic.twitter.com/AhqweXh4dS— POLICE COMPLAINT (@PoliceNG_PCRRU) January 29, 2019
Though the police did not mention the “sister security agency” involved in the killing, several Twitter users said the police was referring to the State Security Services (SSS).
The SSS has, however, denied the involvement of its officers in the killing.
“Well, I haven’t seen such video, but it is not DSS. It couldn’t have been, we don’t operate like that,” Peter Afunanya, the spokesperson of the SSS revealed on Wednesday morning.
“DSS operates within the law, we are not rascally,” Mr Afunanya said.
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