Onitsha: Police extra-judicial killing sparks violence

[DT]

Anambra state's  commercial city of Onitsha  today was the centre of violence following the killing of  a driver suspected to be a  member of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, (MASSOB) by a policeman.

It is alleged that the driver was killed over his refusal to part with N20 bribe at a checkpoint. A passenger also sustained gunshot wounds.

Police authorities however claim the incident began when a Mobile   police Corporal attached to Police Mobile Force, PMF 52 on stop and   search duty at the DMGS tried to stop the deceased and the conductor tried to disarm the policeman, leading to the shooting.

The situation then took an ethnic coloration as drivers and other  hoodlums in the commercial city went on rampage, demanding the killing  of Hausa people around them because, according to them, the policeman  who shot the deceased was a Hausa man.

An angry mob also descended on the police team  earlier sent by the Anambra state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Muhtari  Ibrahim to come and appeal to the rampaging crowd and this led to the  policemen beating a retreat to avoid further casualties.

The mob also went on rampage in different parts of the city hunting for Hausa people which led to many of them fleeing their   different areas to seek protection at the Central Police Station, CPS,   and other police stations within the city. However, no casualty was recorded among the Hausa people. Many are also said to have fled into neighbouring Asaba, Delta state in search of refuge.

In his reaction, the new Igbo leader, Chief Ralph Uwazurike advised the   members of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of   Biafra, MASSOB not to touch any Hausa man but instructed them to dismantle every   police check point within the zone.

When contacted, the Anambra state Police Commissioner, Mr. Muhtari   Ibrahim said the killer cop had been arrested and will soon undergo   orderly room trial and prosecution and called on the rampaging mob to   calm down and go about with their normal lives .



DailyTrust