The police in Calabar have arrested a commercial motorcyclist for knocking down and killing an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Vivian Chinemerem Aworonye, attached to Zone 6 Police Headquarters, Calabar, the Cross River State capital.
The Guardian learnt that the senior police officer, until her death, was deployed to Zone 6 Headquarters from Force Legal Department, Abuja. According to a police source, she was yet to get accommodation in any of the police barracks, and decided to stay in one of the offices within Zone 6.
The source said the motorcyclist hit the officer, following which she fell and sustained a head injury. The incident happened at about 6:30 p.m, last week, as she crossed from Zone 6 to the other side of a busy road.
“She was rushed to Bakor Hospital, along Murtala Mohammad highway, located about 1.5 kilometres East of Zone 6 Command Headquarters. She was referred to the Psychiatric Hospital, considering the head injury, but was later taken to the Teaching Hospital where she died,” the source said.
Meanwhile, the Zone 6 Police Headquarters, Calabar, regretted the demise of Aworonye, who until her death was Assistant Commissioner of Police, Department of Finance and Administration.
In a short message, the spokesperson for the command, SP Nelson Okpai, said a condolence register has been opened at the headquarters in her honour. He said the motorcyclist has been taken into police custody.
“She was staying within the premises, precisely the Mess, and she just stepped out in the evening to buy something for herself. As she came back and was crossing (the road) to enter the premises, a motorcyclist hit her. She was rushed to the hospital. The doctors tried their best but she had an injury in the head. She couldn’t make it, even after a surgery,” he added.
Recall that the state government, in a statement earlier in the week, reiterated its ban on the use of motorcycles within Calabar metropolis.
