An errant policeman on Sunday shot dead a boy in Nigeria’s northern Katsina state, triggering a riot in which at least 24 cars were burnt and many other properties damaged, the local media reported. The police corporal, identified as Tanko Abdullahi, shot dead the boy at a joint where he (policeman) allegedly went to smoke marijuana. Corporal Abdullahi, who was in handcuffs, was later paraded before journalists. He is expected to be dismissed from the police after an orderly room trial, after which he will arraigned in court for murder, the state police said.
The seemingly-unprovoked killing led to riots by some residents of the town, who went to a church and burnt the cars belonging to worshippers, raising fears of a sectarian violence in the predominantly-Muslim state.