By Abimbola Ogunnaike
The Science Equipment Market, Onitsha Bridgehead in Anambra, Anambra State, was in a state of pandemonium late on the evening of Friday, 16 August 2024 after operatives of the State Anti-Touting Squad allegedly shot one person dead and injured several others.
The trouble, it was gathered, started at the market when the operatives invaded the area in search of someone who was said to have urinated in a restricted area and ran into the market for cover.
According to an eyewitnesses, the operatives shot indiscriminately for over two hours while in the market resulting in the traders scampering to safety, leading to destruction and looting of people’s goods.
“Yesterday, was a black Friday in this market, the operatives killed a man simply because he urinated along the Onitsha-Asaba Expressway.
“After urinating, the boy ran into the market as the operatives chased him. When they entered the market, they started shooting. This caused pandemonium in the market as many sellers and buyers in the market sustained severe injuries while scampering to safety.
“Stray bullets hit two people who were rushed to the hospital after they had left. The victims sell drugs at Ogboogwu market. People’s goods were also destroyed and looted. They sealed our toilets and started collecting money from anyone they saw who urinated outside. This is the cause of the problem,” one of the traders who simply identified himself as Okonkwo told The Punch online on Saturday,17 February, 2024.
Meanwhile, State Police Command spokesman, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the incident, disclosing that that the state Commissioner of Police, Aderemi Adeoye, has ordered a probe into the development.
“The Commissioner of Police, CP Adeoye has ordered the immediate transfer of a reported murder incident that happened at the head bridge market by 4:30 pm, on Friday.
“Our officers led by the DPO head bridge, on receipt of the information, moved to the scene and saw a young man in a pool of blood while another was injured.
“The victims were rushed to the hospital where the doctor confirmed one dead. The police also recovered six expended cartridges from the scene. Further details shall be communicated, please,” Ikenga added.
