Police kill Aba businessman: NBA kicks, vows to ensure justice is served

WAs the groundswell of outrage continues to rage following the gruesome murder of an Aba businessman Emmanuel Michael Okocha by suspected operatives of the Rapid Response Squad RRS of the Nigerian Police Force, the Aba Chapter of the Nigerian Bar Association has called the Abia State Police Commissioner called upon to ensure that the cheerful police corporal and all those involved in this dastardly act are not only caught, but also face the full weight of the law.

The Source reports that the young Abiriba-born Aba businessman is said to have died on Friday, April 19, at a medical facility in the commercial hub of Abia.

He reportedly short-changed one of the RRS operatives at Aba/Owerri road on Wednesday, April 17, following his refusal to part with some money.

The Abia State Police Command late on Saturday, April 20, in a statement by its spokesperson Chilaka Maureen ASP, confirmed the arrest of the suspected killer corporal and vowed to ensure that justice is served.

In a statement on Monday, April 22, jointly signed by innocent Egwu and KC Okoro chairman and secretary respectively, and made available to Source, the Aba NBA regretted the killing of Okocha, a law graduate, describing it as very sad.

We have received the shocking news of the unprovoked killing by a police officer attached to the Abayi Police Department of Emmanuel Michael Okocha, a law graduate at a police checkpoint along Aba/Owerri road Aba on Wednesday, April 17, 2024.

According to information available to us, the police officer shot dead the deceased, point blank and at close range, because he refused to give him money.

The rate at which gun welders and lucky police officers at checkpoints are shooting and killing innocent and law-abiding citizens of this country, whom they are hired and paid to protect and shoot, is alarming and condemnable in the strongest possible terms.

“We have therefore called on the Commissioner of Police to ensure that the police officer and others involved are not only apprehended and a full investigation conducted, but also that appropriate legal consequences are imposed,” the NBA said.

The statement further noted that the Human Rights Committee of the umbrella body of lawyers in Aba has been mandated to closely monitor proceedings to ensure that justice is served.