Ike Nnachi, Abakaliki
Men of the Crack Squad of the Ebonyi State Police command on Wednesday shot dead a yet to be identified Labourer and critically injured another three in the state.
The incident happened at Ugwuechara junction within the state capital.
Sources said the trouble started when the Crack Team stopped a motorcycle rider and wanted to confiscate his motorcycle accusing him of being a fraudstar.
The source narrated that the motorcycle rider introduced himself to the policemen as a military personnel but the Crack Team started molesting and beating him.
The source said they tried to force him into their car but he refused.
“As the policemen removed his cap and started hitting him with their guns and the bike man tried to resist them, possibly to snatch one of their guns, one of the team fired which killed one labour seeker, who usually gather at the junction to look for daily job.”
“Another three persons were also critically wounded and were rushed to the hospital. The corpse and the bicycle rider were later taken to the station by the men of the Crack Squad,” the source narrated.
Among the wounded victims, it was learned, is a young boy undergoing apprenticeship at a barbershop and a woman who was just passing by unaware of what was happening.
Police spokesperson, Joshua Ukandu, could not be reached for comments.
He did not take calls nor respond to numerous messages on the incident.
But the Special Assistant to Governor Francis Nwifuru on Internal security for Ebonyi Local government aarea, Obinna Mbam, confirmed the incident.
He said that normalcy has returned to the area and assured that the perpetrators must be brought to book.
Meabwhile, residents lament worsening brutality extortion, indiscriminate arrest by Police.
The crack team is one of the teams that were formed following the disbandment of the notorious SARS unit of the Police in the wake of the EndSars protest.
But many believe it is just a case of name change as the crack unit has continued to perpetrate similar atrocities carried out by the defunct unit.
In Abakaliki, they patrol the street in unmarked patrol vans and unmarked Toyota Sienna buses extorting motorists.
They are also known to target well dressed young men especially those driving flashy cars who they believe are involved in fraud popularly known as yahoo yahoo.
Many times they are seen driving such young men to secluded places where they allegedly force them to transfer huge sums of money to dedicated POS accounts.
Residents have lamented the notorious and dangerous activities of these units in the past but the police hirararchy in the state has failed to do anything about their activities.
Following the incident, residents again lamented the high-handedness of the Police especially the Crack team and the Anti-Kidanpping Unit known as (AK).
A resident who gave his name as Joseph called on the state government to reign in the police.
“Our governor should please do something about this police brutality, harassment and extortion in Ebonyi State. This is very sad. A lot of the youth are running out of Abakaliki on a daily basis because of the Police,” he said.
Another resident, Joshua said: “The way Police go about brutalising Ebonyi residents is alarming.”
