A police sergeant, Chijioke Okorie, was on Sunday beaten to death by a mob in Imo State for shooting a hotel guest to death while responding to a distress call at a newly-opened hotel.
According to The Punch, the incident occurred at Golden C Hotel, Amandugba, in Isu Local Government Area of the state.
Witnesses quoted by the paper said a fight was said to have broken out at the hotel at 8.45pm and policemen at the nearby Isu Police Station waded in to end the fracas.
On getting to the hotel, Okorie, who was part of the police team, shot into the air to disperse the crowd and unknowingly shot a guest in the hotel to death.
This reportedly infuriated people in the area who descended on him and beat him to death.
The Imo State Police Command has condemned the attack on the policeman, describing it as “jungle justice”.
Giving its own version of the story, the Police PRO in the state, Andrew Enwerem said, “There was a fracas at a hotel known as Golden C at Amandugba around 8 .45 pm on Sunday.
“The fracas attracted the attention of the policemen on duty at the Isu Divisional Police Headquarters. On getting to the scene, one of the policemen was said to have shot into the crowd . One person lost his life . The victim was from the Nwangele Local Government Area.
“The people then took the law into their own hands and beat the sergeant to death.
“Inasmuch as we condemn the unwarranted opening of firearm , we also frown on the jungle justice by the mob . We have begun the process of identifying those who administered the jungle justice for arrest.
“The Commissioner of Police (Chris Ezike) has called for immediate investigation into the matter. Normalcy has returned to the area. People are encouraged to go about their lawful business as the police are on top of the situation.”