Police deny killing truck driver in Abia shootout

The Nigerian Police Force, Abia State Command has denied any involvement in the killing of a civilian, an unidentified truck driver in Aba, Wednesday.

The Command’s Public Relations Officer, Assistant Superintendent of Police, Maureen Chinaka in a statement Thursday afternoon explained, “Regarding the Shooting Incident and Death of a Civilian Around Flyover at Alaoji Area in Aba, the Command Has This to Say:

“From our preliminary investigation, there is no credible evidence to suggest that police officers mistook themselves for members of IPOB and fired at each other.

“What we can confirm is that there was a shooting in that area, which resulted in the death of a civilian. The identity of those responsible for the shooting and their motives are still under investigation.

“However, we encourage anyone with useful information regarding the incident to report at the nearest police station.”

Information has it that the shooting was between police patrol teams from Aba Area Command, Aba and another from Umuahia.

It was alleged that the state command who operated in commercial buses, apparently could not identify each other before opening fire.

While the exchange of firing was on, shop owners around Alaoji motor spare parts and passersby along the Enugu-Aba-Port Harcourt Expressway scampered for safety to avoid gunshots.

However, the truck driver was not lucky during this incident and was shot dead.

It was alleged that an argument ensued after the suspects realised that they were all police officers, who were said to have traded blame while refusing to claim responsibility for the death of the driver.

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