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 from his gun during a scuffle between a police team and a soldier at Ugwuachara axis of the old Enugu-Ogoja Expressway in Ebonyi State.
The State’s Police Commissioner, CP Adaku Uche-Anya, who confirmed the incident, said that the incident occurred during a stop-and-search operation by Policemen along the axis.
CP Uche-Anya said trouble started when a soldier on a motorcycle got to the point and he was flagged down by Policemen
“Police men on stop and search stopped 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,” the CP stated.
Meanwhile, the Special Assistant to the Ebonyi State 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 would be brought to book.