Gunmen have reportedly killed and beheaded an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) at Aba, the commercial nerve centre of Abia State, Southeast Nigeria.
The incident which happened on Tuesday along East Street, Aba, has thrown residents of the area into panic.
Some residents were reported to have started relocating to other areas avoid being killed in a reprisal by the police.
According to sources, the hoodlums who threatened further attacks on the area, carted away the gun and uniform of the deceased police officer before they fled the scene.
However, the identity of the slain police officer could not be ascertained yet.
A police source told SaharaReporters that the killing of the police officer might be connected with the death of the leader of a criminal gang during a gun battle on Sunday, April 23, 2023.
He said, “The criminals on that fateful day opened fire the moment they sighted policemen in that area. They were pursued up to the Orji Uzor-Kalu Vridge linking Ngwa Road, Pepples Road and with Akpu Road where they began to exchange gunfire.
“Unable to face the superior fireworks of the police, the kingpin jumped into the Aba River trying to escape through the Ovom/Azumini link of the river before he was killed.”
A resident of the area told some journalists on condition of anonymity that the gruesome killing of the police ASP had led to apprehension around East Street, Ngwa Road, Akpu Road, Ndoki Street, Etche Road, and Ulasi Road, all within the Ndiegoro axis as the criminals were said to have threatened that the police and residents of the area would have no peace.
Meanwhile, efforts made by SaharaReporters to get the reaction of the Abia State Police Command on the incident were unsuccessful as the Command’s spokesperson, SP Geoffrey Ogbonna, did not answer his calls.
He also did not reply to a text message sent to his mobile line.
