UMUAHIA – A combined security task force codenamed ‘Operation Crush’ in Abia State has allegedly killed a middle-aged man in Umuahia.
Vanguard gathered that the incident occurred at Imo Lane off Owerri Road in Umuahia.
However, the state government has described the slain man as a member of a cult group.
The deceased, whose identity is yet to be ascertained, was said to have had a misunderstanding with another young man in the neighbourhood who invited the security operatives.
Eyewitnesses told Vanguard that the deceased fled on sighting the security men at the scene shortly afterwards.
However, the team chased and allegedly fired a shot which caught him in the abdomen and shattered the windscreen of an SUV parked nearby.
The witnesses said the victim collapsed in a pool of blood as the operatives stood over him for several minutes before leaving the scene.
Sympathisers later rushed him to the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, where he died before he could receive medical attention.
“The deceased had a disagreement with the young man who invited the Operation Crush people. When he saw the Operation Crush people, he started running but they pursued him and fired a shot which caught him and exited his body and smashed the windscreen of a car parked nearby,” the eyewitnesses said.
Vanguard also gathered that the Operation Crush task force later stormed the FMC to arrest the sympathisers who took the deceased to the hospital.
Efforts to get the reaction of the Police Public Relations Officer, Abia State Command, DSP Maureen Chinaka, were unsuccessful as she had yet to respond to the message sent to her phone.
The deceased was a cultist – Abia Govt
Abia State Government has reacted to the killing of a young man in Umuahia by the men of the Operation Crush and described the deceased as a cult member.
Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, who stated this at Government House, Umuahia, said that the men of Operation Crush “did not deliberately kill an innocent man.”
He said, “Just yesterday, here in Umuahia, there were security breaches involving some cult groups in the state.
“According to police reports, a resident around Imo Lane, off Uzuakoli Road, was macheted by a cult group. The incident attracted the attention of Operation Crush through a tip-off by a patriotic resident.
“When Operation Crush officers arrived the area, the cult members took to their heels. Unfortunately, one of the fleeing cult members was hit by a bullet supposedly shot into the air to scare the cultists.
“Operation Crush succeeded in arresting a member of a gang who is currently in the custody of the police and is helping the police with their investigations.”
The Commissioner explained that the state government would not have bothered to react to the news making the rounds following the incident but for what he called misleading narratives.
“The sponsors of such reports mislead members of the public into believing that Operation Crush shot at an innocent bystander or citizen.
“Nothing could be further from the truth. We will keep the media informed about further developments in the matter,” Kanu said.
He disclosed that one of the alleged cultists who was arrested by Operation Crush and found with a gun is in police custody, while the victim who was macheted is receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital.
“The fleeing cultist who was hit by a bullet has been deposited in the morgue. The police is continuing with investigations,” the Commissioner added.
VANGUARD.
