A policeman attached to the Anambra State Police Command has been arrested for allegedly shooting a commercial bus driver over N50 bribe in an incident that was said to have occurred in Isuaniocha, in the Awka North Local Government Area of the state.
The victim, Udoka Ezeme, was reportedly shot at about 1.30pm at a police checkpoint in the area. It was gathered that the victim was accosted by some policemen at the checkpoint while he was taking some passengers from Mgbakwu to the Nnamdi Azikiwe University temporary site.
An eyewitness, Emmanuel Nwokedi, said one of the officers at the checkpoint shot the driver after he parked by the roadside to answer their interrogation instead of parting with N50. He said, “The policemen afterwards jumped into their van and zoomed off, leaving the young man in a pool of blood.”
The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital, but was not attended to as the hospital authorities requested a police report, an action that sparked of protest.
The victim, Ezeme, who luckily survived, said he had no altercation with the policemen which could have led to the shooting. Ezeme demanded an investigation into the matter in order to bring the culprit to book and serve as a deterrent to other trigger-happy policemen.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Haruna Mohammed, said the policeman has been arrested. “The state Commissioner for Police, Mr Garba Umar, has ordered a discreet investigation to ascertain circumstances surrounding the incident”.