Two persons, suspected to be members of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) have been feared dead in Onitsha, Anambra State, while four others, including a policeman, were critically injured in a bloody clash between some members of the group and policemen.
The incident occured along Oguta Road when a team of policemen allegedly tried to impound some commercial motorcyclists for plying the road, one of the routes prohibited for motorcyclists by the state government, reports Vanguard.
An eyewitness told the national daily that the victims were shot dead by one of the policemen on patrol while trying to enforce the state government restriction of motorcyclists plying the route and, in the ensuing mayhem, the policeman’s AK-47 rifle allegedly went off and hit one of the victims who died instantly.
It was learnt that after the death of the victim, who was wearing MASSOB insignia, the policeman allegedly started shooting sporadically into the air to scare the people in order to escape mob action. Unfortunately, stray bullets were said to have hit and killed the second victim and injured four others before the policemen escaped.
The Police Area Commander for Onitsha, Philip Ezekiel confirmed the incident. The Divisional Police Officer, DPO in-charge of Inland Police Station, Mr. Cosmas Ezeh also confirmed the incident. He explained that the MASSOB members, who were coming back from their meeting, had first confronted the policemen on their way to buy fuel and met at the point of the incident.
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