Gombe — A trigger - crazy armed squad officer of Gombe Prisons has been detained by the state police command for allegedly opening fire on one of the youths that celebrated Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan's release from prison custody.

The victim, who falls within 15 to 18 age bracket, according to an eyewitness, was in one of the buses that carried the jubilant entourage when he was shot. It was said that the prisons armed squad officer, after the dastardly act, descended on the driver of the vehicle but was chased away by the sympathetic crowd which threatened to lynch him. Though he managed to escape the angry mob following assistance from an unidentified police officer, he has since been handed to the police. The hospital's medical director permitted newsmen to see the patient at the emergency ward of the Federal Medical Centre but they were denied entrance by one of the consultants, Dr. Abubakar Saidu, on the account that a prisons officer said the consent of the investigative police officer (IPO) be sought. Commenting on the development, Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan described the act as irresponsible.

He said that the officer should be prosecuted and be compelled to face the full weight of the law. He expressed doubt as to the police's desire to do such things, saying nonchalance over acts of injustices like this is what people like him were struggling to unearth and rout from the state. ASP Hassan Jamoh who acts as the police public relations officer, did confirm the development but said detailed information would be made available on Monday.