Tragedy struck in Rumuosi, the Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State on Monday after officers attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad began to shoot sporadically at some youths during a burial procession.
According to reports, the residents had gone to retrieve the body of one Aleruchi Woko who was also shot dead by an Army personnel when the youths staged a protest on the bad road infrastructure in their community, last November.
However, they became unruly and began to harass shop owners with machetes and steal from them.
Many traders were forced to close their shops and run for their lives as a result of the attacks and soon enough, the SARS operatives engaged them to restore peace in the area.
According to an eyewitness, “Some Policemen who witnessed the suspected hoodlums wearing black T-shirts and black trousers and clutching sharp machetes while robbing traders of their wares began shooting at them. Gunshots were heard in and around Nkpolu community. Some of the Tricycle riders drove recklessly as part of the burial procession.”
Speaking on the incident, the Chairman of the Community, Achinike Oruguogwu, stated, “The young man killed by the Police and the other one nursing bullet wounds are not indigenes of the community, but sympathizers who came to join us when went to the mortuary to carry the corpse of our brother.”
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