An Inspector of Police, simply identified as Okebata, has allegedly shot dead a police sergeant identified as Iseke Korodama.
The incident, which happened on Wednesday midnight, had caused panic within the state’s police command.
Our correspondent gathered on Friday that the incident, which took place at Agwa- Ejemekwuru Road in the Oguta Local Government Area of the state, had three other police officers and their civilian driver injured.
Police sources told our correspondent that the inspector that allegedly shot his colleague is from the Ambassador Unit of the Police Tactical Unit at the command headquarters but was on duty in Egbema.
“The victims are the operatives from the Surveillance team of the command headquarters. The attacking team is from the Ambassador Unit,” a source said.
Our correspondent gathered that the victims were riding in an unmarked vehicle when attacked.
Another source said, “It was an operational error. The offensive team mistook them to be criminals who were on their way to attack Ogboaku police station.”
Others injured were Inspector Saviour Isong, Inspector Samuel Chukwuekezi, Sergeant Okija Darlington, and the driver, Emmanuel Onyemana.
The driver, conveying the team in a minibus before the attack, is still in critical condition.
Speaking in hushed tones, one was heard telling his colleagues, “These men, especially Inspector Korodama, had worked with the Officer Commanding (O. C) Ambassadors Squad, Egbema, Inspector Chikadia Okebata (‘Kill and Bury’) at Egbema and they met each other that same night before the incident.”
A source said, “The policemen 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.
When our correspondent 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 Inspector Iseke Korodama and the driver were rushed to the hospital the 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 the same day.
The command’s spokesperson, Micheal Abattam, had yet to respond to the inquiries made by our correspondent as of the time of filing this report.
