Five years after a police officer, Ruya Auta, attached to the military task force then known as Operation Safe Haven, OPSH, shot and killed a 20-year-old undergraduate of the University of Jos, UNIJOS, Rinji Bala, a Plateau State High Court has sentenced him to death by hanging.
The murder of Bala, who was a 300-level History and International Studies student, occurred on May 12, 2020, when the victim and four of his friends were out for an evening walk and were accosted by a local vigilante group that ordered them to stop.
According to the spokesperson of the OPSH, Ibrahim Shittu, the young men refused to stop and instead took to their heels, forcing the vigilante group to chase after them, shouting ‘thieves’, ‘thieves’.
Shittu said the boys were caught and handed over to operatives of the task force, who, after interrogating them and finding nothing incriminating, cleared and released them. But as they were leaving, Auta, who mistook them for fleeing suspects, released a volley of bullets on the boys, killing Bala on the spot.
“Unfortunately, as they were leaving, one of the personnel on sentry duty mistook them for escaping suspects. Thus opened fire on them, which led to the death of Rinji Bala,” Shittu had explained to journalists after the incident which shook Jos to its foundation and led to pockets of riots with residents demanding justice for the young student.
After years of court appearances and adjournments, the High Court on Monday, December 8th, delivered its ruling by sentencing Auta to death by hanging or lethal injection.
While speaking on the judgment, Barr. Garba Pwul, SAN, who represented the Plateau State Government in the extrajudicial killing case, expressed satisfaction with the verdict.
“It has been five years of efforts and tenacity to bring justice to the deceased, the family, and even the government,” Pwul said.
“It is a capital offence, so we had to follow the case carefully. Today, we have seen justice served.”