Police officer feigns accidental discharge for death of victim

A police officer attached to the Eket division in Akwa Ibom state, Awana Jacob, has allegedly shot to death one Emmanuel Dickson at a burial ceremony.

It was gathered that the suspect shot his victim on the head and fled the scene but resurfaced to confess that he had an accidental discharge.

The deceased, a resident of Eket local government council in Akwa Ibom state was shot dead while trying to jump over a fence to escape being shot after a police team invaded a burial ceremony in the area.

An eye witness who does not want his name mentioned said the incident occurred on Sunday, 10th October 2021 at about 5:05 pm in the deceased father’s compound along Edoho Ukpong street, Idua village in the council area.

The chairman Ukwa village council, Elder Samuel Etukudoh, who confirmed the incident in an interview with our correspondent yesterday, called for justice over the death of the deceased who happened to be his brother-in-law.

He explained that the incident occurred when an uninvited police team bashed into a mourning house in the area, causing the mourners to run for safety.

According to him, the deceased was shot by one of the officers in the team while trying to jump over a fence to escape from them.

He said “It was about 8 am when my wife called to notify me of the incident. My wife is the sister to the deceased. I was informed that my brother-in-law came back from the opening of a mourning house, just to tidy himself and go back again. Eventually, the police bashed into the compound. They have a cultural group called Nkoriko. So, the police just bashed in and they started running and this boy in question jumped from the fence just to escape and the police shot him dead and what he is trying to tell us is that it was an accidental discharge.

“When I was informed, I had to call the DPO and he said he has just received the information. The following day I called the commissioner of police, Andrew Amiengheme.

Also, an elder sister to the deceased, Princess Nelly Dickson, expressed shock over the untimely demise of her younger brother, adding that she was yet to see her brother’s corpse as at the time she was speaking with the press.

“It was on Sunday, I was in a salon, my mum called me to come to the house. When I arrived I saw a large crowd in the compound and I went straight to meet with my parents to know what was happening”.

However, the Police Public Relations Officer in Akwa Ibom state command, Odiko Macdon, when contacted said the information he had about the incident was still sketchy, adding that until he has a full grasp of the incident, he would not be able to tell what actually happened.

“What I have about that issue is still skeletal and you know me that I don’t speak on issues which I don’t have enough knowledge about”, he said.