By Suleiman Anyalewechi
With the outrage and grief that trailed the murder of Achumugu James Etubi, the manager of a popular hotel in Umuahia the Abia state capital by some suspected personnel of the Nigerian military a few days ago yet to subside, the state was again thrown into another of anguish and mourning on Friday April 19 2024 following the gruesome killing of a young Abiriba born Aba based business man by the police.
The Victim, Mr Emmanuel Michael Okocha was on Wednesday, April 17 allegedly shot by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad RRS of the Nigeria police attached to the Abayi/World Bank Aba police formation.
His offence? His alleged refusal to grease the ever itching palms of the police operatives who were on a routine stop and search operation on the ever busy Aba/Owerri road of the commercial hub of Abia state .
After battling hard to save young Okocha ,from gunshot wounds at the Living Word Hospital,he reportedly succumbed to death late yesterday ( Friday April 19 ) .
An eye witness account revealed that on the fateful day, late Okocha was on his way back from his home town Abiriba to Aba ,when he was stopped by the police operatives who subsequently demanded for his vehicle documents and driver’s license.
The victim was said to have obliged . However ,after perusing the documents and finding them to be in order,the police personnel that conducted the inspection returned the documents
But instead ,of allowing Okocha to leave ,the police operative allegedly demanded to be ” settled” , .
The victim was said to have refused ,insisting that after wasting his time in the process of verifying his vehicle papers ,he will not part with any money.
He was said to have been shot by another operative in front of his vehicle, when he was about driving of .
On discovering that bullet had hit the late Okocha, the police operatives were said to have ran into their Sienna Toyota operational vehicle and fled the scene ,leaving passersby and other sympathetic people around to rush the victim to the nearby Living Word Hospital .
The victim after series of surgeries and other medical efforts to save him , died late yesterday Friday April 19 .
As at the time of reporting ,Abia state police Command was yet to react to the development. Several efforts made to reach the Command spokesperson Chilaka Maureen ASP for comments were unsuccessful.
The leadership of Abiribe Community in Aba ,has however , called on Governor Alex Otti, to intervene and ensure that all those suspected to be involved in the murder of their illustrious son are brought to book.
The Community which is one of the dominant forces in the business life of Aba has called for an emergency general meeting today Saturday April 20 ,at their Community Town Hall Aba to deliberate on the next step to take concerning. the sad incident.
