Baskadia

The murder of sergeant Ujeyah Matthew,a Nigerian police officer from Delta state,was found laying lifeless on the roadside with sergeant iyebu and a police officer,close to OKuruwe Junction,ekredjebo road,Ughelli.

These police officers were killed by some unknown gunmen who were suspected to be robbers.

Unfortunately,in many cases in Nigeria and Delta state to be precised,those who are guilty of crimes and caught often resist arrrest,which could lead to various fatalities such as;fist fighting each other or exchanging of gun fire.These are part of what makes the duty of policemen risky to take.Although the Nigerian police force(NPF) are not so innocent as they have been many cases of police brutality and extra judicial killings.

However,the killing of sergeant the police officers which took place on the 20th of May 2023 all started with sergeant Matthew and his colleagues when conducting a stop and search at Okoruwe street,by winners junction,Ughelli in Ekredjebo community.During the search, some men who were suspected to be Gunmen,returning from an operation was stopped by the officers.They where asked to step down from the car so as to do some searching,but instead of following orders,they shot the officers and sped off immediately.Some pedestrians notices the uniform men laying by the roadside rushed to see what was happening.

As the shot was a close ranged,it rendered two of the three policemen lifeless and leaving one (sergeant Iyebu) badly injured,he was the only one that survived the attack,and he was rushed to a nearby hospital for immediate and proper treatment.

After the incident,the police department in Ughelli drafted some police officers and vigilante to the area to fish out the suspects dead or alive.Hopefully we were waiting for the culprit to be caught and brought to book.

Other countless cases have been heard of similar happenings in various locations,in different part of Nigeria.Just recently at Okpata junction in Ulakwo,a community in Niger Okpala local government area of Imo state,south eastern region in Nigeria,some Gunmen killed some police officers,not exactly a month after another attack was launched on five police officers and they were gruesomely killed alongside a married couple at the same location,in the council area of the community.

The latest attack happened at about 9am,when the police officers of the community was just manning a checkpoint in the area.However,an eyewitness from the community said the gunmen stormed the checkpoint in two vehicles and opened fire on the officers,killed two,one of which sustained injuries and the others were able to escaped.The police spokesman (agent) named ‘Henry Okoye’ who was a witness to the whole incident,said that “they were piecing of bullets and stains of blood”.

However,one of the causes of this killings is the unlawful use of force by police officers.They are so many corrupt officers,infact 95percent of them are all corrupt,extracting money from bicyclist,motorist and even keke-napep drivers,and even when they refused,their key will be seized or their bike/car will be taken straight to the station were they will demand a huge some of money only to be released.

Police officers are supposed to be;protecting lifes and property through the enforcement of laws & regulations,responds to calls for police services,arrest and processes criminals,operate a law enforcement vehicle under emergency conditions day and night,taking an active role in community oriented policy on campus and community emergency personnel at accident emergencies and even disasters,not by extracting money from people who are working hard in other to make a living.

Moreover,the people’s responds to this singular act of the police officers has cost many their lives.The attacks often target security agencies,government officials and facilities.They gage been a report of hundreds of people that have been killed or injured in such attacks in Imo state.The indigenous people of Biafia (IPOB) has been accused by the Nigerian government of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the region,but the group has denied having a hand or involved in the attacks.

In conclusion,due to the death of the officers, the people of Ekredjebo community have been traumatized by the incident and fear of walking in the night is high.several arrests were made to those who was deemed a suspect in other to get concrete information to get in contact with the culprits.