Scores injured as Ebubeagu and police in a show of supremacy

From George Onyejiuwa, Owerri

There was pandemonium on Wednesday at the Imo State secretariat as civil servants scampered for safety following gunshots between the police and the state government-sponsored Ebubeagu militia.

It was gathered that the sporadic shooting had resulted in a stampede which resulted in many of the civil servants sustaining varying degrees of injuries as they tried to scale the perimeter fence to escape from the scene.

According to an eyewitness account, “an operative of the Ebubeagu group was allegedly being bullied by a group of policemen near the state’s Attorney General’s office situation at Block 10. Almost immediately, other operatives of Ebubeagu appeared from nowhere and engaged the policemen and challenged the policemen. As the policemen shot into the air, the Ebubeagu operatives also started shooting sporadically into the air. Although, no one was shot.

“As a result of this, there was a stampede at the Secretariat that led to some workers sustaining various degrees of injuries.”

A civil servant who spoke on a condition of anonymity said the policemen accused operatives of the Ebubeagu of over-stepping the bounds of their duties and trying to usurp the of duties of the police command.

He said, “It started with a little argument when a policeman accosted the Ebubeagu operative of over-using his power, and it soon degenerated to a fight and shooting of guns.”

Another Civil Servant who does not want his name mentioned disclosed that at about 10:30 Am that there was a shooting at Block 10 which is around the office of the Attorney – General and Commissioner for Justice. He said that the shooting by the Police and Ebubeagu caused a stampede as many civil servants sustained injuries as they were trying to flee for safety.

Meanwhile, the government of Imo state has debunked news of unknown gunmen attacking Imo workers at the state Secretariat during working hours.

Oguwike Nwachuku, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, in a release, said what was witnessed at the Secretariat was the police trailing a suspect in a case in order to effect his arrest in an alleged crime when some gunshots were released in the air.

“There was no such incident involving unknown gunmen as it is currently being peddled at some quarters. It was an attempt to effect the person’s arrest that the police fired warning shots at the Secretariat.

“Members of the public are therefore advised to ignore any information linking the incident to unknown gunmen as there was nothing of such.”