Nigerian Man Loses Eye After Police Fire Teargas At Close Range In Abuja, Another Shot In Katsina

Man Loses Eye After Alleged Police Teargas Shooting in Abuja

January 20, 2026

A young man, identified as Abraham Immanuel, has lost his left eye following what eyewitnesses described as a night raid by Nigerian police officers attached to the Bwari Police Division in Abuja.

In a video obtained by SaharaReporters, the victim was seen with a severe injury to his left eye as a voice in the background identified him and accused police officers of firing teargas directly at him.

“This is Mr. Abraham Immanuel, the victim of this night raid where the DPO of Bwari Police Division shot a teargas directly at his eye,” the voice said.

“Today is January 8, 2026. The young man in question has lost one eye. This is barbaric. This is inhumane. I’m really in pain.”

During the recording, the speaker also confirmed that Immanuel was taken to General Hospital, Asokoro, for medical treatment.

An eyewitness, Emmanuel, in an audio recording obtained by SaharaReporters, narrated how the incident allegedly occurred during a police operation in Sabon Gari, Abuja.

“My name is Emmanuel. I’m speaking from Sabon Gari. I was working in a church, a Redeemed Church,” he said.

According to him, security personnel were invited to the area following the burning of a tyre.

“So they called me that we should come and stay around Sabon Gari so that we could stop the burning of a tyre,” he explained.

Emmanuel alleged that police officers passed through the area several times before eventually firing teargas.

“For them to come back for the third time, that was when I began to feel the gas entering my nose,” he said.

He further claimed that the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) was present at the scene.

“The next thing I saw, they were holding somebody. The DPO stood there. He came down from the armoured vehicle, one leg inside, one leg outside, and shot the gas towards the chief’s palace side,” Emmanuel alleged.

He said he later saw his colleague helping the injured victim.

“It was when he approached us that I saw this guy with blood. He was falling,” Emmanuel said.

“I saw him. The DPO shot one here. He came down and shot three in this axis.”

Meanwhile, SaharaReporters also obtained an interview detailing a similar incident in Katsina State, where another victim, identified as Tasiru, was allegedly shot by police officers on January 1.

An eyewitness, Aliyu Abdullahi, said the incident occurred while he and others were at their place of business.

“We saw people running towards us from G5,” he said.

Aliyu alleged that police officers were chasing a young man who later collapsed near him.

“The boy managed to reach where I was and he was crying, ‘Oh my God, oh my God,’” he recalled, adding that the victim told him police officers had shot him.

According to Aliyu, the bullet struck the victim close to the neck but did not penetrate.

“They shot him near his neck, but the bullet didn’t penetrate,” he said.

He added that the victim was rushed to hospital but later taken home due to the high cost of medical treatment.

“We paid ₦45,500 for his operation,” Aliyu said, noting that doctors requested additional tests, including a CT scan.

Aliyu further accused the police of failing to properly investigate the incident.

“They didn’t even open a file to properly document the case,” he alleged.

He also claimed that when police officers visited the hospital, they attempted to downplay the injury.

“They said it was not a bullet wound but an injury from iron or an accident,” he said, insisting that “there is no sharp object or iron in that location.”

Lamenting what he described as repeated abuses by security personnel, Aliyu said, “This is not the first time. There are many similar incidents involving the police. We need justice.”