Police give insight into alleged robbing of shop by operatives in Anambra

The police in Anambra State, South-east Nigeria, have given insight into the allegation that their operatives, Thursday, raided a shop in the state and robbed residents of their mobile phones.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported how the police in the state, in reaction to a video of the incident posted on social media, said in a statement that they had identified the operatives involved.

The police spokesperson in Anambra, Tochukwu Ikenga, a police superintendent, issued the statement.

Mr Ikenga had called on the supposed victims of the incident to come forward and help the police with information.

The video

The video posted on X showed many residents gathered by a roadside and a male voice in the background, narrating what happened.

“This is what happened this morning,” the man began narrating.

“Police operatives from Otuocha invaded a shop where people were charging their phones and started shooting indiscriminately. They stole all the phones and ran away. This is robbery,” he said.

The incident happened at Umueri, Otuocha, a community in Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State.

The video showed empty bullet shells and tear-gas shells lying by the roadside, which the man who narrated the incident said were fired by the police operatives.

Police give insight into incident

Later Friday evening, our reporter contacted the police spokesperson, Mr Ikenga, over the alleged robbing of the shop by the police operatives. He said the video circulating on social media did not give a full picture of what happened. His explanation was, however, not clear.

“Our men spotted them, they ran away and left their phones. That place is a black spot for us. The volume of hard drugs that we have recovered there. All that they said in that video is true – that the policemen took their phones and went away with some of their personal belongings. All of the phones are with me here (in my office). Some power banks are here too,” Mr Ikenga said.

“It was when police came into that spot that they ran away. If you see what we recovered there, you’ll be marveled.

“We are not disputing that the police went into the shop and took away the phones. In our statement, we said we had identified the police officer and the team and called on victims to come forward for necessary action. Until now, no single person has come forward,” he added.