Abia police confirms burning of Ariaria Police station, warn against rumours

Sept. 14, 2017

By Ijendu Iheaka

The Abia state Police Command has confirmed the burning of Ariaria police station by hoodlums who attacked the station early Thursday morning.

The Abia PPRO, ASP Geoffrey Ogbonna told our reporter that the hoodlums also beat a policeman at the station to coma.

He said that the trouble sprung from rumours of attacks on Igbo people by Hausas which kept many phones in Aba abuzz with calls from 2 am Thursday morning till later in the day.

Ogbonna said that the unconfirmed stories may have instigated the Ariaria mob to attack the police station there and to set it ablaze.

When asked if there was a prior confrontation with the police to warrant the attack, the PPRO said there was none.

Asked if he knew of the death of two persons from suspected police gunshots arising from the Ariaria incident, he said the situation left the policemen at risk of loosing their lives.

He stressed that nobody would watch and allow his life taken without taking measures to secure himself.

 “As far as I am concerned there is no incidence of the police shooting people in the state. You are in the state. You know these things”, he said.

When told the reporter saw where policemen were shooting in a situation around Ariaria, the PPRO said that it must have done so to get away from the grip of the hoodlums to save their lives.

“So if there were some shots may be it was to scare people away so that they can pull out of the attacks. I don’t have any record of police shooting anybody in the state under this situation”, he said.

Earlier, the Medical Director of Holy Wounds Hospital, Faulks road, Aba, Dr Uchenna Anyanwu said four persons who were shot during the encounter with the Ariaria police were moved into his hospital Thursday morning.

He said that the mob, thinking he was working for the police because he always treated injured people involved in any crisis around the area invaded his hospital and vandalized it.

Believing that the burning of the Ariaria Police station was the result of unfounded rumours that made the rounds Wednesday night, Ogbonna warned people to beware of rumours and verify whatever they hear to save their lives and their loved ones.