By Ugochukwu Alaribe
Tragedy struck in Aba, Abia State, at the weekend as gunmen shot dead a Police Inspector at Uratta in Aba North Council area of the state.
The policeman whose name was given as Inspector Emma was said to have been transferred from Umuahia to Uratta police station, about two months ago.
A police source told Vanguard that the slain policeman was on his way to work last Friday at about 8pm when he saw a man riding a motorcycle. He was alleged to have stopped and impounded the machine for an undisclosed reason.
The source explained that the police inspector was riding on the motorcycle to the Uratta police station when on approaching Uratta Road by Chief Obi Street, he was attacked by three armed men.
The hoodlums were said to have given the policeman machete cuts on his body, ripping his skull open in the process.
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After killing him, hoodlums reportedly fled with the police inspector’s AK 47 rifle.
However, luck was said to have run out of one of them when as he was going home after killing the policeman, some local vigilante members noticed bloodstains on his cloth and arrested him and later
handed him over to the police.
Vanguard gathered that during interrogation, the suspect admitted his involvement in the killing of the policeman.
Policemen from State Command headquarters, Umuahia, were said to have in the early hours of yesterday raided a popular brothel within the Uratta area in search of the fleeing hoodlums, but no arrests were said to have been made.
In a related development, another security agent was reportedly attacked by gunmen at the weekend within the Aba and his rifle allegedly taken away.
Details of the attack were still sketchy as at the time of filing this report.
When contacted, spokesman of the Abia State Police command SP Geoffrey Ogbonna, said he was not aware of the incidents.
Meanwhile, Abia State Government has expressed dismay over the two attacks and urged individuals in the state to maintain vigilance and take necessary measures to protect themselves, their customers and establishments, to complement the efforts of government and security agents.
A government statement from the Commissioner for Information, Chief John Okiyi Kalu, directed security agencies in the state to ensure that perpetrators of the attacks were arrested and the arms recovered.
