There was an uproar in Anambra state on Wednesday, December 25, when an operative of the Department of State Services (DSS) mistakenly shot a man dead in Alor, Idemili South local government area of the state.
The Herald gathered that the officer attached to a VIP’s house in the area in attempt to fire a cow running away from the house killed the victim, Onyeocha Umuokwu, a domestic staff to one Engr Emeka Eze.
A source close to the family who claimed the suspect was a police on duty at the scene, described the act as painful.
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The source said: “Onyeocha Umuokwu was shot by a police officer at Engineer Eze’s house on 25th December 2019, in Alor. A cow cut the rope they tied it, and started running. A police officer on duty aimed to shoot the cow, but mistakenly shot and killed Onyeocha Umuokwu, so painful.”
Reacting, Police spokesperson, Haruna Mohammed refuted the report alleging that the act was committed by a policeman. Describing the report as misleading, Mohammed said it was orchestrated by mischief makers targeted at portraying the police in bad light.
He said: “The attention of the Anambra State Police Command has been drawn to a misleading report being circulated that one Onyeocha Umuokwu was allegedly shot by a police officer at Engineer Eze’s house on the 25/12/2019 in Alor Community, Idemili South LGA of Anambra State. The report probably orchestrated by mischief makers who want to portray the police in bad light is totally misleading.
“In order to clear ambiguity and to set the record straight, on the 25/12/2019 at the residence of one Engr Emeka Eze of Umuokwu village Alor, a DSS personnel whose identity is yet unknown attached to a VIP allegedly fired gunshot at a cow in a bid to stop it from escaping but the bullet missed target and allegedly hit one Nnaemaka Nnabuenyi (a domestic staff of the said Engineer) popularly known as Onyeocha and the victim died on the spot. The incident was not reported to police.
“Following the incident, police detectives led by DPO Nnobi Division visited the scene but neither the Engineer nor the victim’s relative are willing to provide any useful information that will aid police investigation. However, corpse was taken to the mortuary for autopsy and case is under investigation to ascertain circumstances surrounding the incident.”