Residents of Delta State have accused policemen attached to the Operation Delta Hawk unit in the state of chasing a man to his death.

The residents who witnessed the incident told FIJ that it happened on Tuesday.

They said the police chased the man, whose identity is yet to be identified, into a river near Deeper Life road in the Ubeji/Egbokodo community area of Warri South Local Government Area.

These policemen, sources told us, left the scene afterwards and did not bother to retrieve the man from the river.

Ofeoritse Gift, a member of the community, told FIJ that the man was on a motorcycle and the police was chasing from behind.

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“He left the bike and started running away on foot, then he got to the river and jumped inside. No one saw him after that,” Gift told FIJ.

In a video he shared on social media, another person present at the scene of the crime accused the police of causing the man’s death.

In Pidgin English, this person could be heard saying, “Delta Hawk don pursue person enter water o. The person don die o. Na so. Dem don carry their van, dem don run o. They don kill person like so, they don run o.”

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Gift told FIJ that on Wednesday, the man’s body floated and divers brought it out.

Guys let get justice for this innocent young man this is the number of the Delta hawk squad leader his known by the name Dante Let's call him and show him love +234 703 394 3228@wakajugbe @Brightgoldenboy @DeltaPoliceNG @Princemoye1 @SavvyRinu @falzthebahdguy#Justice4Osas https://t.co/ygJeBAJjYw

— Comr. T. Ofeoritse Gift (@Ofenoni) September 28, 2023

FIJ called Bright Edafe, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Delta State Police, and he had a different account of events.

Edafe said the police were only driving behind the man when they saw him jump down from the motorcycle in panic and run to the river as though he had something to hide.

“He was on a bike when he saw the men from the Delta Hawk team and ran. The commercial motorycle rider testified to us that he jumped down from the bike to run into the river,” Edafe told FIJ.

FIJ asked what the police did after the man ran away, and Edafe said, “The police left and began reading that he ran in there and died. The men did not chase him there.”

Ojukwu is a reporter with FIJ in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe.