April 15, 2020
By Ijendu Iheaka
Abia Police Commissioner, Ene Okon on Wednesday confirmed the arrest of one Richard Eke, a Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) operative for allegedly killing a transporter in Abia.
The police commissioner further said that he had directed his men to transfer the NSCDC official to the SCID, Umuahia for proper investigation.
Okon therefore warned security personnel to be mindful of the way they use guns entrusted to their care, stressing that if Eke is found culpable after investigations, police would arraign him for murder.
A source at the scene told our Correspondent under anonymity that Eke allegedly shot and killed Mr Amobi Igwe, at a security checkpoint at Umu-Ikea in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of Abia.
The source said that Igwe who is a native of Ishiagu in Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi is a transporter who plys Ishiagu - Aba route to deliver goods ordered by Aba residents from Ishiagu.
He said Eke shot the transporter on the head, killing him on the spot at a security checkpoint at Umu-Ikea Junction in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of Abia.
He further said that Igwe was coming to Aba with some consignment of rice ordered by Catholic Church leadership in the city when he met his death.
“He was supposed to observe the lockdown but because some Reverend Fathers of the Catholic Church in Aba had ordered some consignment of rice for the poor among in the Church, he decided to come with the load.
“But on reaching Umu-Ikea junction, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) personnel stopped him and demanded money from him.
“And he gave them but as he was about moving, the NSCDC personnel came with his own demand.
“Before anybody would know what was happening, he had shot Richard on the head, making his wife a widow in broad day light for no genuine reason. His body has been deposited in the mortuary now.
“The only person he was in the vehicle with could also have been killed but he dodged the bullet but Richard was hit and killed”, the source said.
The source also said that after killing the driver, Eke ran into a police station at Umu-Ikea junction where he was taken into custody in his attempt to escape mob action.
However, a source contacted at the NSCDC who asked that his name be not printed because he has no authority to speak said their men were on a joint Abia Covid-19 lockdown enforcement when the incident happened.
He said that Eke approached the checkpoint without stopping and in his bid to pass the checkpoint in a haste, he brushed an NSCDC operative resulting to the operative shooting him.
This is the second case of shooting resulting in death of a citizen by a security agent in the last two weeks in Abia following Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s announcement of lockdown of the state to stop coronavirus from entering the state.
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