Anambra CP orders officers’ arrest for killing civilian

The Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Nnaghe Itam, has ordered the detention of members of a patrol team that killed a civilian along the Onitsha-Owerri Road, in the Onitsha metropolis of the state.

The command’s spokesman, Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, adding that a preliminary investigation fingered a corporal among the patrol team as the suspect.

Ikenga said the CP’s directive followed an ongoing investigation into the victim’s murder.

He said, “CP Itam orders the detention of police patrol team members over the murder of an unsuspecting member of the public along the Onitsha-Owerri Road, Onitsha. As preliminary investigation indicates among the patrol team, a police corporal was the suspect in the act.

“The CP directs the immediate transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Awka, sues for calm and assures all that the command will ensure a thorough investigation into the case for justice to prevail. Further development shall be communicated.”

On October 13, 2023, a 29-year-old Chibueze Nwakor, father of three children, who hailed from Owerre-Ezukala, in Orumba South Local Government Area of the state, was reportedly shot dead near Sokoto Road, Main Market in Onitsha, allegedly by policemen attached to the Onitsha Area Command.

The deceased, who was said to be on his way to the market to purchase a food item, was shot by the security officers for his inability to help them locate the direction, in which they were heading on the said date.

After shooting him, the policemen were said to have jumped into their ash-coloured commuter Hiace shuttle bus and zoomed off.

The deceased’s mother, Mrs Dorcas Nwakor, petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, over the alleged killing of her son.