|
Listen to article
|
The Police Command in Anambra State has come to deny the allegations that officers serving in ‘B’ Divisional Headquarters recently tortured and killed a suspect whose name was given as Mr. Chibuike Christian Okafor after labelling him an armed robber.
This rebuttal was offered by the Spokesperson for the Command, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Tochukwu Ikenga, in a statement that was made available to The Eastern Updates on Tuesday.
He went on to deny the trending news on social media platforms. He stated that police operatives responded to a distress call in Awka and rescued a suspect, identified as Mr. Chibuike Christian Okafor, who was armed with a locally made gun from an angry mob.
According to him, the suspect, Okafor popularly known as Jokef, collapsed after being rescued by the police, was immediately rushed to the hospital, but was confirmed dead by a medical doctor.
Read Also: Abia: We Reacted After IPOB First Attacked US – Police
He said the Command investigated the allegation and discovered that the story is not true, but malicious, a product of fiction, the handiwork of mischief-makers and an attempt targeted to tarnish the image of some police personnel serving in the Command and to incite the members of the public against the police.
He said: ‘To set the records straight, on March 28, 2023 at about 10:35 p.m., police operatives responded to a distress call along Secretariat Road, Awka, rescued a suspect from an angry mob, and recovered a locally made gun with one expanded cartridge allegedly used in robbing his victims.”
Ikenga said that investigation is ongoing as the Command is still studying the video footage of the mob action to identify the persons behind this act.
Meanwhile, the state’s Commissioner of Police (CP), Echeng Echeng, has warned residents against mob action on any suspect involved in breach of the law.
Echeng encouraged the citizens to take suspects to police stations whenever they are apprehended, insisting that this will help the police to conduct proper investigations into the activities of the suspects and bring them to justice under extant laws.
The CP also warned that henceforth, the Command shall invoke relevant sections of the Cybercrime Act against any trigger-happy writer/ social media influencer, whose aim is to publish falsehood and cause disharmony in the state.
