Task Force Operative ‘kills man’ during Protest to stop Church Demolition

The operative was said to be attached to the Borno Geographic Information Service (BOGIS) that was on a demolition exercise at the church.

The incident reportedly occurred on Wednesday, after some youths confronted the team led by Adam Bukar-Bababe, executive secretary of BOGIS.

The youths were said to have claimed that the agency didn’t issue any notice before bringing down the church structure.

The confrontation led to a protest after the driver of an excavator started destroying the structure of the church, including the properties inside.

The task force operative attached to the demolition team reportedly opened fire on the youths to disperse them, but a bullet hit a man who was identified as Ezekiel Burris.

Five other people also sustained injuries.

The angry youths, TheCable learnt, had confronted the demolition team, and sources said Bukar-Bababe narrowly escaped being lynched as he was whisked away by security personnel.

Another source said the operative who killed Burris escaped the mob, and the other operatives “removed their uniforms and fled the scene for fear of being lynched.”

However, four vehicles belonging to a humanitarian organisation in the area were vandalised.

The Borno police command, the army’s garrison unit, and a team from the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) later intervened and brought the situation under control.