Emmanuella Ahenjir, a 400-level student of Kwararafa University in Taraba State, was fatally shot during a police stop-and-search operation carried out by officers attached to the E Division.
The shooting occurred around Wurukum roundabout on Friday.
According to reports, the police had attempted to stop a vehicle allegedly coming from the Benuelinks area.
In a statement released by the Benue State Police Command, the driver of the vehicle reportedly turned around, drove against traffic and allegedly opened fire on the officers, prompting them to return fire.
The vehicle eventually fled the scene, but hours later, news emerged that a young woman, later identified as Emmanuella Ahenjir, had died from a gunshot wound at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital.
She was confirmed to be one of the occupants of the vehicle.
Police said detectives visited the hospital and found another passenger, Apase Keghter, who was subsequently taken in for questioning.
Keghter denied that the vehicle’s occupants shot at the police.
He explained that he and others were returning from a night out at the Newcastle Event Centre when they inadvertently drove on the wrong side of the road and bypassed a police checkpoint.
He alleged that officers opened fire without provocation.
After realising the vehicle had a flat tyre, they reportedly arranged for a commercial vehicle to rush Ella to the hospital.
However, she succumbed to her injuries.
The car and the other passengers remain unaccounted for and the circumstances surrounding the shooting continue to raise serious questions.
Activist Ukan Kurugh described the killing as an “unacceptable loss of innocent life” and demanded swift justice. “This is yet another case of extrajudicial action by those meant to protect us,” he said.
The Benue State commissioner of Police, CP Emenari Ifeanyi, has ordered a full-scale investigation, assuring the public and the victim’s family that the truth will be uncovered and justice served.
