A police officer was shot dead on Wednesday during a stop-and-search operation along the Onitsha-Owerri Expressway in Uli, Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State.
The officer, an inspector from the 29 Police Mobile Force, Awka, died in a gun battle that broke out when police stopped a vehicle that turned out to be carrying suspected operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).
According to eyewitnesses, the Toyota Sienna vehicle was driving against traffic and was flagged down by the police. The officers did not know the vehicle was being used by DSS personnel.
A roadside hawker near the scene said, “The unmarked Toyota Sienna came from a nearby road, driving against traffic. The police team stopped it, but the occupants refused to cooperate. Suddenly, they opened fire and shot one of the officers.”
The inspector was first rushed to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Ihiala and then taken to the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital in Nnewi, where doctors confirmed him dead on arrival.
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Anambra State Police Command spokesperson, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the incident and said the officer was “mistakenly shot” by a “friendly force.”
Ikenga explained, “The officer on duty was fatally shot by operatives of a friendly force, who came in an unmarked Toyota Sienna vehicle, dressed in black. The unexpected scene led to a shootout.”
He added that the situation was now under control and that a full investigation had begun.
“The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Awka for a thorough investigation. The State Commissioner of Police, CP Ikioye Orutugu, urges the public to stay calm and trust that justice will be done,” he said.
The police also confirmed that the officer’s body has been deposited in the hospital mortuary for autopsy.
This tragic incident comes just two weeks after another police inspector, Okolie Amechi, was accidentally shot dead by his 10-year-old son in Awka. The boy had mistakenly pulled the trigger of his father’s AK-47 rifle