By Our Correspondent<\/p>\n
In a bid to rid Rivers stata of criminality, Rivers State Police Command has announced the dismissal of four police officers involved in the killing of a 22-year-old graduate, Anthony Obodo in Port Harcourt. <\/p>\n
Anthony Obodo, a fresh graduate of the University of Port Harcourt, awaiting NYSC call-up was killed on Thursday August 27 by a Trigger-happy Police Officer, Louis Alfred at the Agip\/Ada-George area of Port Harcourt, after being chased by a patrol team led by Fabian Kpeanebari, attached to Agip Police Division.<\/p>\n
The incident sparked tension across the state with youth shutting down section of Agip Road, and Rundele axis of the East West Road on Friday, Saturday and Monday in protest, demanding justice for the murdered Anthony Obodo.<\/p>\n
Briefing journalists in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, CP Olugbenga Adepoju, said the officers involved in incident have been arrested and undergoing disciplinary actions.<\/p>\n
CP Adepoju also announced the arrest of 14 suspected members of ‘one chance’ robbery syndicates operating in Port Harcourt and environs, by operatives of the Command.<\/p>\n
Giving details of the incident, CP Adepoju said “Anthony Obodo died following a police pursuit and shooting by a patrol team. <\/p>\n
“During the pursuit, Corporal Alfred Louis, who is attached to the patrol team, opened fire at the vehicle and a bullet hit the driver identified as Anthony A. Obodo ‘M’ who sustained gunshot injury,” he said.<\/p>\n
According to the Commissioner, the victim was immediately rushed to Palmer\u2019s Hospital, Port Harcourt, where he was later confirmed dead by the doctor on duty.<\/p>\n
Adepoju stated that “the three members of the patrol team were immediately arrested and detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, Port Harcourt, where a comprehensive investigation was carried out. Efforts were also intensified to arrest Inspector Solomon Nwrogu, who reportedly absconded after the incident.<\/p>\n
He said that the dismissed officers, including the one at large, will subsequently be charged to court to face criminal prosecution in accordance with the law. <\/p>\n
He posited that the Command remains committed to professionalism, accountability and respect for human rights, adding that no officer found to have acted outside the law will be shielded.<\/p>\n
“Following the conclusion of the investigation and the establishment of the culpability of the officers involved, they have been tried in orderly room and recommended for dismissal from the Nigeria Police Force.<\/p>\n
“This action demonstrates that the Nigeria Police Force will not shield personnel who abuse the powers entrusted to them or act contrary to the law and professional standards of the Force. Let me reiterate that no police officer is above the law,” Adepoju said.<\/p>\n
Speaking further on the crackdown on ‘one chance’ robbery in the state, the CP said the Command arrested 14 suspects following sustained intelligence-led operations by the Violent Crime Response Unit, VCRU.<\/p>\n
He said one of the suspects, Identified as Idakiniselegha during interrogation, confessed to being part of a five-man syndicate and revealed the existence of another four-man syndicate operating along Garrison, Aba Road, Rumuola, Air Force, Rumuokwurusi, Obiri-Ikwerre and Choba axes of the state, terrorising residents.<\/p>\n
The CP added that one Matthew identified as a member of the Iceland cult group and the ring leader of a syndicate operating around Aba Road, East-West Road, Choba and NTA Road was also arrested by operatives of the Command.<\/p>\n
Adepoju said exhibits recovered from the suspects include one Keke mini-bus with registration number RGM 823XE, black and white in colour, and sixteen assorted mobile phones suspected to have been stolen from victims.<\/p>\n
He further disclosed that investigation revealed that Idakiniselegha specialized in extracting SIM cards from victims and using them to facilitate unauthorized withdrawals from their bank accounts.<\/p>\n
“Efforts are ongoing to identify and arrest other members of the syndicates, dismantle their network, identify and trace their victims and recover other proceeds of crime in their custody,” he said.<\/p>\n
The CP assured residents that tactical and investigative units have been directed to sustain operations aimed at dismantling criminal networks responsible for one-chance robbery, kidnapping, armed robbery and cult-related activities across the state.<\/p>\n
He urged members of the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious persons, vehicles and incidents of police misconduct through appropriate channels, and to avoid taking the law into their own hands.<\/p>\n
“The Rivers State Police Command under my leadership remains committed to professionalism, accountability, transparency, respect for human rights and service to the people,” Adepoju said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Our Correspondent In a bid to rid Rivers stata of criminality, Rivers State Police Command has announced the dismissal of four police officers involved in the killing of a 22-year-old graduate, Anthony Obodo in Port Harcourt. Anthony Obodo, a fresh graduate of the University of Port Harcourt, awaiting NYSC call-up was killed on Thursday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-law-crime"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17369"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17372,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17369\/revisions\/17372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}