The Lagos State Police command and the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Usman Alkali Baba have been petitioned by the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria to state their reasons for assigning five operatives of the Force to protect Nigerian musician, Burna Boy at a nightclub.
This comes after the musician’s police escorts fired gunshots at a man after he (Burna Boy) allegedly made passes at the said man’s wife.
Another individual who tried to chastise the policemen for shooting the gentleman was also shot in the process.
Although some five policemen involved in the shooting incident have since been arrested and charged with attempted murder, the human rights group has established that this sort of deployment is absolutely irregular.
Stating that it has become a norm in the police force, the group established that the trend where operatives are often dispatched for private commercial jobs at the expense of critical situations must cease.
It was contained in a Nigerian Police Division report that the trouble started when Burna Boy and his five police escorts entered a Cubana nightclub around 4am on June 8.
While about four policemen waited outside, one of them, identified as Inspector Ibrahim, who was in casual attire, accompanied the Grammy-Award-winning artiste into the club.
The singer was in the VIP section with three women when he allegedly spotted another woman.
However, the lady’s husband was said to have lambasted the singer, insisting that it was disrespectful for any man to make advances on his wife.
After some minutes, Burna Boy reportedly made fresh advances at the woman. This infuriated her husband further and his friends who had gathered at the club.
“As things were getting heated, Ibrahim brought out his service pistol and shot multiple times while Burna Boy was laughing,” a senior policeman said.