Police sergeant spreads sorrow in Abia community, guns down school leaver

Chuks Onuoha, Umuahia

A 45-year-old widow and mother of six, Madam Grace Onuoha, from Okwulagha Afara Ibeku, in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State, is in agony.

She is calling on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, to ensure that the policeman who allegedly shot and killed her 22-year-old son is brought to justice.

The young man, Christian Chukwubuikem Onuoha, was allegedly shot dead on Monday, June 3, 2019, by one Sergeant Collins Apugo of the Mobile Police Base, Bende Road, Umuahia. The policeman has since disappeared.

The state police authorities said they have been making efforts to apprehend Apugo since the day of the incident without success, and have declared him wanted for murder.

But the family disagrees, alleging that the police have not been serious about arresting the killer cop.

Madam Onuoha, a cleaner/gardener with the Abia State Ministry of Women Affairs, said her husband died when their kids were between the ages of three and six, and she has since been catering to their needs alone.

“But on Monday, June 3, I was shocked when I heard that my son, whom I sent on an errand to a neighbouring compound, had been shot dead by a trigger-happy police officer living in our community.

“Everyone in this community can testify to the good character of my son. He was not a bad boy, not an armed robber, cultist or drug user. He was always smiling and was liked by the youth and the elderly. That is why this community is in mourning, because everyone knows that my son does not deserve to die like that. People are surprised that someone could raise a gun at him.

“Everybody loved him, and for that reason his peers were always here to visit him. He did not do anything that would have made this man to kill him in cold blood,” Madam Onuoha lamented.

“I cannot understand why the policeman shot him,” she continued. “But I was told that he was with his friends when the police man drove a Hilux van and was flashing his head lamps in full at them. Then one of the boys told the policeman to reduce the intensity of the light. The policeman got angry and jumped out of the vehicle and started demanding why they should tell him to dim his light. But none of them agreed that he was the one that complained. Then my son came out, because the policeman knew him, and he used to send my son on errand. My son pleaded with the officer not to be angry, that the people there were his friends. He had believed that his intervention would calm the sergeant, but before he could finish talking, the policeman shot my son in the arm. At that point, he shouted, ‘officer, what is my offence?’ When he saw the look on the man’s face, he started running. As he was running, he fell. Then the policeman lowered his rifle and shot him many times in the back. When the people saw what he had done, they advanced towards him and he started shooting randomly and scared everyone away. Then he escaped to Aba Road, from where he disappeared.

“When the people got to where my son was lying face down, they saw that he was unconscious and rushed him to the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, where he was confirmed dead. Since then, nobody had seen the policeman who killed my son.

“I am calling on the President and the Inspector-General of Police to intervene and ensure that I get justice in this matter. I have no one to speak for me. I was widowed whn these children were very small and have been training them all alone, believing that, someday, they would grow up into men and wipe away my tears. The way the police are handling the matter here, if nothing is done fast, they will sweep the murder under the carpet.

“My husband is not alive. If he were alive, he is the one that would have followed up this case. But now that he is not alive, only God and people like you can get me justice. Let that policeman, Sergeant Collins Apugo, come and explain why he killed my son in cold blood. I know that God will not rest until the blood of my son is avenged. If my son were a bad person in the community, they would have asked the family to come and carry his corpse and bury. But because he was not found wanting in any way, the whole community is mourning his death.

“The police can find him if they want to do that, but we are of the opinion that they are protecting one of their own,” Madam Onuoha said.

It was gathered that Christian Chukwubuikem Onuoha sat for his Senior Secondary School Certificate examination about two years ago and has been sitting for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) with the intention of gaining admission to the university.  He schooled at Evangel High School, Old Umuahia, and was a very good footballer. He has been doing jobs at construction sites to assist his widowed mother pending when he would gain admission to the university.

A young man who was at the scene of the incident said he and others followed the deceased to deliver a message at the next compound, adding that on their way back, they saw the van with its full lights on driving into the street. He said one of them asked the driver to dim the lights.

“The admonition angered the police officer who stopped and stormed out of the vehicle. He demanded explanation on who gave us the authority to ask him to dim his light. And as he was shouting and pointing his rifle menacingly at us, Christian recognised him and told him that we were sorry for asking him to dim his lights. But before he could close his mouth, the policeman had shot him in the left shoulder and he shouted, ‘Ibekueee,’ calling his kinsmen to come to his rescue. Then he asked the policeman, ‘what have I done to you now?’ And he started running, with the officer pursuing him. He did not run for long before he fell down. The police officer met him where he was lying face down and pumped several hot bullets into his heart through the left side and he died on the spot.  By then, we had all scattered to different directions, watching from a distance. Immediately he noticed that people were trying to come close, he started shooting sporadically and escaped,” the young man recalled.

After the death, the state governor sent delegates to the community where they met with the traditional ruler, Eze Edward Ibeabuchi of Okwulagha Autonomous Community. The Eze then sent some people to report the matter to Ehimiri Police Station.

A member of the Eze’s delegation said: “While we were there making reports, some policemen who said that they came from the state CID came in and said they were there to take over the case since it belonged to them.

“We have been told that Sergeant Collins Apugo, until the incident, worked with the Mobile Police Base, along Bende Road, Umuahia, and that the officer in charge of the case is one Sampson at the state CID. The police also said that they have gone to the village of the suspect but did not see him.”

It was gathered that the suspect just got married, and his wife still lives and works in Owerri but was visiting the sergeant occasionally. It was also learnt that the policeman has not been coming to work since the incident.