Newspaper vendors in Abuja have on Friday taken to the streets in protest against the killing of their colleague, Ifeanyi Okereke Elechi.

Elechi was killed after shots were fired by the security detail of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon, Femi Gbajabiamila.

In a statement issued today, Gbajabiamila said that the shots were fired into the air to disperse some men who had prevented his convoy from moving.

He said that Elechi was hit by a stray bullet despite his security detail deploying professionalism in handling the situation.

“A horrible incident has taken place. This evening as I left the national assembly, I stopped, as usual, to exchange pleasantries with the newspaper vendors at the corner,” he explained.

“Many of them have known me since I first moved to Abuja and it was a friendly exchange. Unfortunately, after the convoy set out in continuation of movement, unidentified men obstructed the convoy which got the attention of security men in the convoy who shot into the air to disperse them.”

He said he later discovered that someone was shot “contrary to an earlier report by men in the convoy that they applied their security discretion to shoot in the air.”

He added: “In the meantime; the officer who fired the fatal shot has been suspended from the convoy pending the conclusion of the investigation.”