A police Inspector simply identified as Okebata, has allegedly shot dead a police sergeant identified as Iseke Korodama and three other police officers and their civilian driver injured of Imo State.
The incident happened on Wednesday midnight at Agwa- Ejemekwuru Road in the Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State.
The tragic incident is said to have caused panic within the state’s police command.
According to PUNCH, police sources said that the inspector that allegedly shot his colleague is from the Ambassador Unit of the Police Tactical Unit at the command headquarters but was on duty in Egbema.
“The victims are the operatives from the Surveillance team of the command headquarters. The attacking team is from the Ambassador Unit,” a source said.
It was gathered that the victims were riding in an unmarked vehicle when attacked.
Another source said, “It was an operational error. The offensive team mistook them to be criminals who were on their way to attack Ogboaku police station.”
Others injured were Inspector Saviour Isong, Inspector Samuel Chukwuekezi, Sergeant Okija Darlington, and the driver, Emmanuel Onyemana.
The driver, conveying the team in a minibus before the attack, is still in critical condition.
Speaking in hushed tones, one was heard telling his colleagues, “These men, especially Inspector Korodama, had worked with the Officer Commanding (O. C) Ambassadors Squad, Egbema, Inspector Chikadia Okebata (‘Kill and Bury’) at Egbema and they met each other that same night before the incident.”
A source said, “The policemen got a signal that a group of bandits were preparing an attack and were headed their way, so they positioned to intercept the hoodlums. So when an unmarked Mini-bus moving at night with heavily armed occupants came their way, they mistook them for the hoodlums and tried to demobilize them. That is what I heard until we see an official statement from the command.
The aforementioned publication reported that a reliable source said that Inspector Iseke Korodama and the driver were rushed to the hospital the same Wednesday night. While the Inspector was pronounced dead on arrival, the driver was treated and allowed to go on Thursday.
Other casualties, Saviour Isong, Samuel Chukwuekezi, and Okija Darlington, came to the clinic on Thursday, were treated for their injuries, and discharged the same day.