By Obinna Uchendu Abakaliki
The Ebonyi State Police Command has confirmed the killing of a middle-aged bystander who was shot dead by a police officer when a bullet went off during a scuffle between a police team and a soldier at Ugwuachara axis of the old Enugu-Ogoja express road.
The State Police Commissioner, CP Adaku Uche-Anya who confirmed the incident said that the incident occurred during a stop and search along the axis.
CP Uche-Anya said, the Policemen were on stop and search and when the bike man got to the point, he was flagged down
“Police men on stop and search stop the purported soldier and wanted to search him, he refused and their was scuffle, during the scuffle between them, the soldier was trying to disarm one of them and the bullet went off and hit a bystander.
“It’s not as if they just opened fire on innocent bystander, just that during the scuffle, bullet went off and hit bystander.
“One person died during the process and three others were injured but they’re responding to treatment. We’ve confirmed that the purported soldier is actually a soldier, both the soldier and the police man are in our custody and we’re investigating what happened”. CP Stated.
Reacting, an eyewitness who spoke to journalists on grounds of anonymity sid that the incident happened at Ugwuachara junction within the capital city.
The eyewitness said that trouble started when the Crack Team stopped a middle-aged man riding a bike along the Ugwuachara axis of old Enugu-Ogoja road Abakaliki.
The eyewitness alleged that the bike man had introduced himself to the policemen as a military personnel but the Crack Team started molesting and beating him.
“As the policemen removed his cap and started hitting him with their guns, the suspected soldier tried to resist them which led to a fight. On the process, one of the policemen fired a bullet which killed one labourer.
“The man that was shot dead is one of the labourers, who usually comes out at the junction every morning to look for his daily job”.
“Another three persons were also critically wounded and were rushed to the hospital. The corpse and the bike man were later taken to the station by the men of the Crack Squad”, the source narrated.
Meanwhile, the Special Assistant to the governor on Internal security, Ebonyi Local government area, Hon. obinna Mbam confirmed the incident.
He said that normalcy has returned to the area and assured that the perpetrators must be brought to book. Ends.
