Richard Anyebe
A police inspector identified as Augustine Ukegbu has been killed by fleeing gunmen in Imo State.
Reports say Ukegbu was gunned down at his village at Umuoshike Ogbor in the Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area of the state when he went home to celebrate Easter with his family.
One police source who preferred anonymity disclosed that the inspector was abducted from his house upon his arrival from his base in Owerri and was later found dead in a bush along Mbutu in the Aboh Mbaise LGA.
“Inspector Augustine Ukegbu who was serving at Orji police divisional headquarters went home to celebrate Easter with his family at Aboh Mbaise. Around 11 pm, on April 8, some gunmen riding in a Lexus jeep came and kidnapped him from his house in the village,” the source said.
“The abduction was reported at Oke Ovoro police Division. The jeep he was kidnapped with was later found abandoned along the Mbutu Road in Aboh Mbaise. Policemen visited the scene and the surrounding bush was searched and the inspector’s corpse was found.”
The inspector’s corpse, the source said, had been deposited in a mortuary in the area by some police operatives and the Lexus jeep he was kidnapped in was recovered by his colleagues.
Reports quoted another police source as being embittered by the murder of the officer.
The source disclosed that he saw the slain inspector in Owerri the day he was travelling to the village.
He said, “I saw Inspector Augustine in Owerri and he told me he was travelling to celebrate Easter with his family at Mbaise. We exchange pleasantries and I wished him journey mercy. He was serving at the Orji police divisional and had served at the headquarters in Owerri. He was an operative of the SWAT ( Special Weapons and Tactics) Department. I am saddened by his death.“
Reacting, the Imo state police command spokesman, Henry Okoye, said the command had commenced an investigation into the kidnap and killing of the Inspector.
In other news, Kanyi Daily reported that the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 25th general election, Peter Obi has mourned a former Anambra State Governor, Chinwoke Mbadinuju.
Mbadinuju died at the age of 78, according to a family statement issued on Tuesday night.
