Policeman ‘kills’ two in Aba

TRACKING____A trigger-happy policeman serving under the Abia State Police Command, whose identity is yet-to-be known, has reportedly killed two persons in Aba, the commercial nerve of the state.

Efforts to reach the Commissioner of Police, Janet Agbede, proved abortive on the incident.

She failed to pick calls and respond to SMS as at the time of filing this report.

But a senior police officer in Abia Command confirmed the incident to The Nation.

Unconfirmed report said one of the persons hit by bullets died at the spot while the other later died in a private hospital where he was reportedly rushed for medical attention.

One of the deceased, identified as Ifeanyi Kalu, was said to be a member of the Abia State Board of Internal Revenue (BIR) Task Force operating in Aba.

The incident, our reporter, gathered angered the youths who had mobilised to attack the policeman but it took the combined team of the Nigerian Police Force, Aba Area Command and soldiers around the popular Bata junction to restore calm in the area.

According to reports, the policeman was invited by his friend after personnel of the Abia State Board of Internal Revenue Task Force had tried impounding his car for using a private car for the sale of bread.

A source said: “We learnt that the man was using a private number plate SUV to sell bread when the task force met him. They started arguing and the man was telling them that there was nothing wrong to use his private car to sell or distribute bread. It got to a point that the thing started turning into almost a fight.

“We learnt that while the quarrel was ongoing, a policeman who was reportedly invited to the scene by the jeep owner came and met the already chaotic scene. It was in the midst of the confusion that the policeman apparently in a bid to scare the crowd and restore sanity, the bullet from his gun hit the BIR task force member in the stomach and a passerby.

“One of them died at the spot while the other person died in a hospital where he was rushed for medical attention. We don’t know if both of them are BIR task force members, but one of them, we understand is Ifeanyi (Kalu).”