Unknown gunmen in military uniform have reportedly shot and killed one Loveday Obilonu, a police sergeant in the operations department of the Imo State Police Command, and dumped his body in a gutter.
Loveday was killed along Ukwu Urata road in Owerri, the Imo State capital. He was said to have joined the police force in 2007.
A video that went viral on Wednesday showed the wife and relatives of the slain officer crying as they gathered around his corpse.
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The state’s police public relation officer, Bala Elkana, confirmed the incident.
“Attention of Imo State Police Command is drawn to a video circulated on the social media with different version of stories. The stories are not only false but mischievous.
“The person killed in the video is a serving Police Officer attached to the Operations Department, Imo State Command, deployed to protect citizens from criminal elements disturbing the peace of the state.
“He is Force Number 447160 Sergeant Loveday Obilonu ‘m’. He was enlisted into the Nigeria Police in 2007.
“The incident happened on 19th May, 2021 at about 0745hrs at Ukwu Uratta road, Owerri. The woman crying in the viral video is identified as kelechi Obilonu ‘f’ , the wife of the deceased sergeant.
“Preliminary investigation conducted into the incident revealed that the sergeant was killed by some hoodlums, dressed in military fatigue.
“They identified him as a Police Officer and opened fire on him. No civilian casually recorded. The Command is on the trail of the perpetrators of the crime in other to bring them to justice,” said Elkana.
The state’s Commissioner of Police, Abutu Yaro, extended his condolences to the family of the slain officer while assuring them that his killers would be captured and made to face the law.