The victim, Mrs Ebere Ikem, told The Guardian that no fewer than 15 armed policemen on Thursday night invaded their residence at No. 113, Old Umenede/Agbor road, Ika North area of Delta State to arrest her husband, Chief Ifeanyi Ikem, for an undisclosed offence.
Narrating her ordeal, she said the policemen came to their house around 11:30 p.m. asking for her husband. “I told them my husband was already sleeping and they should come the following morning, but my explanation fell on deaf ears as they insisted that my husband must be arrested that night.”
According to the woman, the cops, who came with three vehicles, all in mufti, forced their way in before dismantling the entrance burglary and scaling the wall via the burgled window into the house.
“At this point, I started shouting ‘where are you taking my husband to this night, please leave him alone, come tomorrow, my husband is not a criminal’. But what I got in response was a shot at my legs.
The acting Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Edafe Bright, who confirmed the incident, said the policemen were from AIG Zone 5, Benin City, saying “that is all I know about the matter.”
The Zone 5 PPRO, DSP Tijani Omoh, who also confirmed the story, said the police officers officially incident their arrival at the command’s headquarters and the Umunede Divisional Police Station before they went to Mr. Ikem’s house based on the petition the AIG approved for investigation.
Omoh denied that the policemen shot the woman but claimed the shooting was done by members of the community who came to the scene with double-barrel guns. He said: “The man refused to cooperate with the police despite the fact that our men identified themselves”.
