By Cajetan Mmuta, Awka
An angry mob has killed a robbery suspect in Awka, the Anambra state capital.
The incident happened along State Secretariat Road in Awka town.
The suspect identified as Chibuike Christian Okafor was said to have collapsed and died while being rushed to a hospital.
The Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO), of the state police command, DSP Ikenga Tochukwu who confirmed the incident on Sunday disclosed that a team of operatives of the state police command had successfully rescued the armed robbery suspect from a mob who descended on him.
He said the suspect was being rushed to a nearby hospital when collapsed and died.
Ikenga who was reacting a video viral video on the social media platforms which alleged that the men of the “B” Division of the state police command “tortured a man to death and labelled him (deceased) an armed robber over an undisclosed issue” described the allegation as false.
He stated that following the viral video footage, the Commissioner of police in the state, Mr. Echeng Echeng ordered an investigation to unravel the truth about the video footage, adding that the findings showed that the person being claimed to have been killed by the operatives of the “B” Division was actually an armed suspect who was rescued from mob by a team of police operatives.
The command described the allegation that the deceased was killed by the men of the “B” Division as “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 command”.
The PPRO said that what actually happened was that “On 28/3/2023 by 10:35 pm, 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.”
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According to him, “The suspect was later identified as Mr Chibuike Christian Okafor popularly known as Jokef, collapsed after being rescued by the police, was immediately rushed to the hospital and was later confirmed dead by a Medical doctor”, he explained further.”
The command said that investigation was still ongoing as the Command was still studying the video footage of the mob action to identify the persons behind this act.
He stated that the state police commissioner had reiterated the campaign against mob action and urged members of the public to avoid the culture of taking laws into their own hands.
He also appees that suspects should be reported or taken to the police stations whenever they are apprehended, so as to enable the Police to conduct proper investigations into the activities of the suspects and bring them to justice under extant laws.
The command added that henceforth, it shall invoke relevant sections of the cybercrime act against any happy trigger writer/ social media influencer whose aim is to publish falsehood and cause disharmony in the State.
