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….Source: ‘It was in error”
BY Ibe Pascal Arogorn
Operatives of the Ambassador Squad led by one Inspector Chikadia Okebata (‘Kill and Bury’) of the Imo police command on Wednesday attacked policemen from the Surveillance team, killing an Inspector in the process.
It was gathered that Police Surveillance team which was attacked along Agwa-Ejemekwuru road in Oguta LGA of Imo state.
Our correspondent also gathered that the surveillance team were on patrol before they ran into the attack.
Inspector Iseke Korodama was killed on the spot while Inspector Saviour Isong, Inspector Samuel Chukwuekezi and Sergeant Okija Darlington were injured in the attack.
The driver conveying the team in a mini bus before the attack, Emmanuel Onyemana Chimankpa, a civilian, is still in bad shape.
There are clear indications that many policemen were unhappy with the incident.
A police source who do not want to be named because he is not authorized to speak for the command however told our correspondent that what happened was an operational error.
He said: “I understand that ‘Kill and Bury” and his boys got a signal that a group of bandits were preparing an attack and were headed their way, so they positioned to intercept the hoodlums. So when an unmarked Mini-bus moving at night with heavily armed occupants came their way, they mistook them for the hoodlums and tried to demobilize them. That is what I heard until we see an official statement from the command.
What may have angered other policemen is the fact that the suspect in this killing, Kill and Bury, is yet to be apprehended or reprimanded for the shooting.
When newsmen visited the Police Clinic where the victims were said to have been admitted, it was found that they had been discharged except for the deceased.
A reliable source however, confided in our correspondent that Inspt. Iseke Korodama and the driver were rushed to the hospital same Wednesday night. While the Inspector was pronounced dead on arrival, the driver was treated and allowed to go on Thursday.
Other casualties, Saviour Isong, Samuel Chukwuekezi and Okija Darlington came to the clinic on Thursday, were treated for their injuries and discharged same day.
Imo police spokesperson, Mike Abattam is yet to react on the matter when contacted for enquires.
