‘I just wanted to scare him’, policeman sentenced to death for killing bajaj driver tells court

A police officer who shot dead a bajaj driver early this month told a military court in Mogadishu today he was ‘only trying to scare’ the deceased but ended up releasing a bullet that ripped through his head and injured a second victim.

While delivering the verdict, a military judge said the officer identified as Ali Mohamed Ahmed confessed to killing Abdirizak Yusuf Gure a bajaj driver at Trabunka junction in Hodan district, Mogadishu.

According to the court, the bullet from Ahmed’s AK-103 No. 08096 also injured a passer-by named Ali Hashi Matan.

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While delivering the verdict, the judge said Ahmed told the court the deceased had driven by a checkpoint and that he (Ahmed) asked the driver to stop. “I ordered him to give me the key but he refused. I pointed the gun on his head just to scare him,” the defendant said.

The court found Ahmed guilty of killing Gure and injuring Matan. He was sentenced to death.

There have been a series of police killings targeting bajaj drivers in Mogadishu. Only last week, a police officer opened fire at a bajaj killing the driver and injuring a pregnant woman.