One dead, three injured as soldier, police clash in Ebonyi

A clash between some policemen on duty and a military man has resulted in the death of a passerby who was hit by a discharged bullet Ebonyi state on Wednesday.

The Guardian gathered that the incident happened at the Ugwuachara axis of the town following a squabble between policemen on a ‘stop and search’ duty and a military man on a bike.

A source told our correspondent that suspected men of the crack squad of the Ebonyi Police Command allegedly shot a labourer with three others reportedly injured in the ensuing scuffle.

The source noted that the crack team stopped a bike man alleged to be a soldier and wanted to confiscate his motorcycle.

The source stated that the instead happened when the alleged soldier and the crack team of the police on stop and search duty were scuffling for the bike.

Confirming the incident to Journalists, the Ebonyi State Commissioner for Police, CP Adaku Uche-Anya, said that the policeman and the soldier are in police custody and an investigation has been launched into the incident.

“The Policemen on stop and search stopped the purported soldier at that time, wanted to search him, he refused and there was a scuffle between them – one was trying to disarm one of them and the bullet went off and hit a bystander,” Uche-Anya said.

“One person is dead, and three are injured but they’re responding to treatment, the ones that are in the hospital are responding to treatment. We’ve confirmed the purported soldier is a soldier, and both the soldier and the policeman are in our custody and we’re investigating.”