He said the incident happened in August 2016 along Airforce Road, Okaka-Epie area in the Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state.
Mr. Daniel Kokorifa, an official of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) attached to the Port Harcourt, Rivers State Command, has recounted the tragic killing of his 17-year-old son, Innocent Kokorifa, by men of the Anti-Vice Unit of the Bayelsa Police Command.
He said the incident happened in August 2016 along Airforce Road, Okaka-Epie area in the Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state.
Kokorifa, who is from Okpotowarie community in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state, said his child was shot in the back while running an errand. He said his son was on an adjoining street when he was killed by the police, along with his dream of becoming a lawyer.
Kokorifa disclosed this in a petition before the Bayelsa Judicial Panel on Police Brutality and Related Extra-Judicial Killings headed by Justice Young Emmanuel Ogola.
Kokorifa, in the petition dated 4th November, 2020 numbered EAA/PI/BYS/240/2020, and through his counsel, E. A. Aluzu Esq and associates, said his teenage son was shot in the back around 11.30am by a police corporal, Vincent Kohamowei, without provocation.
Another petitioner, 81-year-old grandfather, Chief Lucky Amakiri, in his petition before the judicial panel said his grandson, Blessing Amakiri, was shot dead by men of the state police command based on mere suspicion that he belonged to a cult group in the state.
Amakiri said his 19-year-old grandson was shot dead by men of the Ekeki Police Division at the former Oyoyo Market in the Ovom area of the state.
Also dragging the authorities of the Bayelsa and Delta states' police commands before the judicial panel were families of two policemen shot dead on the 14th of June, 2020 in Ughelli, Delta State allegedly by men of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad while on special duty alongside five other policemen.
In their separate petitions, the families of Sergeant Ondogha Oyindineni and Sgt. Philip Seikpo insisted that the mysterious killings of their children alongside five police officers in Ughelli were suspicious and without any justifiable reasons.
The families of the late Sgt. Oyindineni (F/N 47818) and Sgt. Seikpo (F/N 477880) insisted that policemen were on special duty when they were killed and without proper explanations made to the families.
The Bayelsa Judicial Panel on Police Brutality and Related Extra-Judicial Killings, after preliminary hearings and appearances made on the 18 petitions received, has adjourned to January 6th and 7th, 2021 for further hearings and appearances of witnesses.