A policeman has died from injuries sustained while saving his neighbor’s daughter from a fire.
The fire incident took place on Saturday night in the late officer’s neighborhood in the Mararaba area of Nasarawa State.
The policeman, who until his death was attached to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) in Abuja, is said to have rushed into his neighbor’s house to save the boy who was trapped in the fire.
An area resident told PREMIUM TIMES that the boy was successfully rescued by police but suffered serious injuries.
He was rushed to the hospital on Saturday night, but died on Sunday, the source said. “He is a hero, without him the neighbor’s son would have died in the fire.”
NFIU officials confirmed the death of the police officer who was said to have been attached to the mobile police unit before being attached to the NFIU.
However, PREMIUM TIMES was unable to confirm the policeman’s name.
Police spokesman Muyiwa Adejobi said the force headquarters had not yet been briefed on the matter at the time of this report.
“I can’t speak because I haven’t been informed and I can’t confirm it,” he said.
Other police officers interviewed for this article described the incident as moving and lamented what police officers often do to save civilian lives.
The late policeman’s action comes at a time when police are trying to repair his tarnished image.
Over the years, Nigerians have had negative perceptions of the police due to the actions of some of their officers.
Some of the illicit activities of the police led to the historic #ENDSARS protest in 2020 – a youth-driven demonstration against police brutality in Nigeria.
The protest, which went from social media campaigns to street demonstrations in October 2020, was sparked by the excesses of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a now-disbanded police tactical unit notorious for cruelty against crime suspects.
Although SARS activities and general issues of police brutality, including illegal arrests, torture and extrajudicial executions, were at the center, the protest became a platform to demand decisive government action against insecurity, corruption , economic problems and general mismanagement.
