By Jonathan Ugbal
Petty thievery as CrossRiverWatch earlier reported has continued to be on the rise since the turn of the year in Obudu with staff of the Nigeria Prisons Service NPS and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC been the culprit this time.
The first incident involving a staff of NPS occurred on Saturday through Sunday April 26, 2015 when the unnamed staff allegedly broke into a gifts items shop along Fire Service road close to the Animal Junction opposite the cenotaph of the ‘unknown soldier’ and was shot in the leg by vigilante.
When CrossRiverWatch visited the scene, sources informed our reporter that the culprit who had ran after been shot was later picked up by officers of the Nigeria Police Force NPF who had been tipped by the vigilante group and taken to Sacred Heart Catholic Hospital which is a minute drive away.
CrossRiverWatch also gathered from one of the hospital’s management staff, who spoke on condition of anonymity, that they refused treating the alleged culprit due to “some sensitive concerns”.
A security source told CrossRiverWatch that the suspect actually burgled a shop and was shot by the police community local government vigilante who are authorized to carry “small arms”.
According to our source, the suspect who hails from Etung local government area is cooling his feet in the cell and has since been transferred to the state Criminal Investigation Department CID in Calabar.
The second incident involves an officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps who hails from neighboring Obanliku local government area.
He was arrested for allegedly stealing a motorcycle during the primaries election of the People Democratic Party, PDP at the government guests house located along ranch road in Obudu.
According to the source “He rolled the motorcycle away and transferred the engine into his, following intelligence reports, he was traced through a mechanic where other parts were and arrested on Tuesday April 28. He is also cooling his feet in the state CID in Calabar and will be prosecuted after investigations”.
The Special Adviser on Peace and Security to the Obudu local government council Chairman, Mr. Patrick Agogo popularly known as Spokesman had posted the two incidents on his Facebook wall and it drew ire from his friends who were mostly indigenes of the local government as their comments on the thread showed.
Efforts to get the Divisional Police Officer, DPO Supol Adigwe Emeka to comment proved futile as several visits to his office yielded no results with officers on duty always saying he was not available on learning the mission of our reporter.
Calls to his mobile phone were answered but he stressed he was not in the position to comment on such issues.
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