Another police officer shot dead in Anambra

Unidentified gunmen have killed a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Mr Emmanuel Ochiobi, attached to the Central Police Station, Onitsha in Anambra.

He was the second police officer to be killed in the station in several weeks.

Ochiobi was shot on Monday by two men riding a motorcycle at about 9.30 a.m. on Okosi Street, Onitsha.

According to a police source who spoke on condition of anonymity, the late police officer reported in his office around 9 a.m. and took his vehicle to a mechanic workshop.

“When he got to the mechanic workshop, he was joined by another senior colleague, the Divisional Crime Officer at the Inland Police Station, Onitsha, which is just a few poles away.“While they were discussing, two unidentified men on a motorcycle pulled up about a pole away and immediately opened fire on the DSP who was backing the road,’’ he said.

He said that the DSP’s colleague escaped unhurt.

Until his death, Ochiobi was the officer in-charge of the Special Anti Robbery Squad in Onitsha.

The death of Ochiobi brings to two the number of senior police officers in the station killed by gunmen in three weeks.

When contacted, Mr Emeka Chukwuemeka, the Anambra Police Public Relations Officer, said he was yet to be briefed about the incident.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Anambra Chapter of the Campaign for Democracy, Mr Uzor Uzor, said the death of Ochiobi was a serious setback in the fight against crime in Onitsha.Uzor urged Gov. Peter Obi to ban okada riding in Onitsha, adding: “The call to ban okada riding in Anambra has become imperative with the rising incidents of robbery using motorcycle as the means to escape.’’