Nigerians Raise $16,000 For Family Of Slain Police Officer In Owerri Bank Robbery

Nigerians from all over the world have raised over $16,000 for the family of Sergeant Chukwudi Iboko, the policeman who was killed during a robbery in a Zenith Bank branch in Imo State.

As of 11.08pm on Monday, $16,476 had been raised on a fundraising platform, GoFundMe, by 390 people, the Punch newspapers reports.

The project was initiated by the Punch newspapers and other social activists in the country, led by Kayode Ogundamisi to honour Iboko, who was killed in February.

The brave Iboko died on February 23, 2017 after confronting some robbers who invaded a Zenith Bank branch on Wetheral Road, Owerri. He engaged the four-man robbery gang in a gun battle, killing one before being overpowered by their superiority.

A video, which went viral on social media, showed Iboko being shot multiple times by one of the robbers after he ran out of a security post at the entrance of the bank. It was later gathered that the father of eight died a day after the incident.

His wife, Rose, in an interview last month, revealed that one of her eight children, Chukwuebuka, died from shock on the day of the father’s burial.

She further disclosed that the police authorities abandoned her and her surviving children, adding that Zenith Bank only paid for the burial of her husband.

Nigerians who followed the story were moved by the pity state of the family, which prompted them to challenge the Punch Newspapers to create the GoFundMe account for the family on Sunday, setting a target of $15,000.

The media outlet said that the target was exceeded in less than 24 hours after it was launched. The highest donation was $1,000 and the least was $5.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) has threatened to sue the Nigeria Police Force and the management of Zenith Bank PLC for abandoning the victim’s family.