By CrossRiverWatch Admin
Four people are currently receiving treatment for gun wounds after men of the Nigerian Police Force shot to disperse villagers gathered at its divisional headquarters in Ogoja, locals say.
They are being treated at the General Hospital in Ogoja which is directly opposite the police station. This comes on the heels of increasing criminality, which has seen a wave of arrests, by the police command in Cross River State.
Trouble begun when some thieves who have been stealing yam tubers and seedlings in Ogboja and Ukende communities were chased which led them to abandon their tricycle popularly referred to as ‘Keke’.
Both communities are largely agrarian and residential. And, the youth leader reportedly led a team to burn the Keke of the thieves. He was arrested and detained.
His detention prompted others to march to the Police station to demand for his release. The exchange of words degenerated into a tense situation that led to police officers shooting to disperse them.
The incident comes on the heels of increased claims of shooting of suspects by the police command in the State.
Security sources say the code for shooting is “wear am socks,” which loosely translates as “wearing someone socks.”
“When they catch a suspect these days, due to pressure to release many, some guys (police officers) will prefer to shoot the person in the leg and make the person wear a sock to hide the bleeding, a situation that often leads to great pain, discomfort and infection,” a source said.
However, there have been recent successes in curbing kidnapping and gang activities which have claimed several lives this year with the Anti-Cultism and Kidnapping Squad arresting a suspected notorious kidnap kingpin, Solomon Effiom Bassey and his gang in Odukpani.
Mr. Bassey has allegedly been terrorizing Odukpani Local Government Area and some parts of Akwa Ibom State.
Security sources told CrossRiverWatch that Mr. Bassey has been carrying out a lot of piracy and kidnapping activities in Odukpani, Calabar and its environs, most especially Ikot Nkebre and Lemna axis.
The most recent and heart touching is the kidnap of eight of company workers at the boundary between Urruan Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom and Odukpani Local Government Area in Cross River few weeks ago.
Two out of the eight persons abducted, died in his camp. A ransom of sixty million Naira (NGN60,000,000) was paid to Solomon and his gang to secure the release of the remaining six persons. But, Solomon allegedly killed the three persons that took the money to him and his fellows.