According to reports, a man suspected to be a Bureau de change operator was beaten to death by task force officials near the Presidential Hotel in Port Harcourt.
The man whose identity is yet to be confirmed was involved in street trading and illegal markets.
Spokesman of the state police command, Nnamdi Omoni confirmed the death, saying the matter was being investigated.
The Nation reports that the coordinator of the task Force, Bright Amaewhule in an interview on Tuesday said his men had no hand in the man’s death, saying he slumped on his own and that his men took him to the nearby military hospital in the hope that he would be resuscitated.
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Amaewhule said; “There is no truth in the rumor making the rounds that members of the state task force killed the man; my men had no hand whatsoever in that death; instead they came to offer help to the fainting man but were turned down by the deceased’s brothers around.
“However, the man that died was not a money Bureau de change person, instead he runs a buka behind the refurbished presidential hotel bus stop along Aba Road, although we have been asking him to leave the place.”