AN inspector of police in Imo State, Augustine Ukegbu, was killed by fleeing gunmen.
According to some police sources Ukegbu was killed when he returned home to celebrate Easter with his family in his village of Umuoshike Ogbor in the state’s Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area.
One of the sources, who doesn’t want to be mentioned because he does not have the official clearance to speak on the matter, told newsmen that the inspector was kidnapped from his house upon his arrival from his base in Owerri and was later found dead in a bush along Mbutu in the Aboh Mbaise LGA.
The source said, “Inspector Augustine Ukegbu who was serving at Orji police divisional headquarters went home to celebrate Easter with his family at Aboh Mbaise. Around 11 pm, on April 8, some gunmen riding in a Lexus jeep came and kidnapped him from his house in the village.
“The abduction was reported at Oke Ovoro police Division. The jeep he was kidnapped with was later found abandoned along the Mbutu Road in Aboh Mbaise. Policemen visited the scene and the surrounding bush was searched and the inspector’s corpse was found.”
According to the source, the inspector’s body had been placed in a local morgue by police operatives, and his captors’ Lexus jeep had been found by the inspector’s coworkers.
Another source, who was incensed by the cop’s murder, stating that he had seen the murdered inspector in Owerri on the day that he was heading to the village.
He said, “I saw Inspector Augustine in Owerri and he told me he was travelling to celebrate Easter with his family at Mbaise. We exchange pleasantries and I wished him journey mercy. He was serving at Orji police divisional and had served at the headquarters in Owerri. He was an operative of SWAT ( Special Weapons and Tactics) Department. I am saddened by his death”.
The state police’s spokesman, Henry Okoye, announced that the command had started an investigation into the kidnapping and murder of the Inspector.
