Some unknown gunmen have reportedly killed an Inspector of the Nigeria Police Force in Imo State.
According to The PUNCH, Inspector Augustine Ukegbu was killed at his village at Umuoshike Ogbor in the Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area of the state.
The police personnel was said to have travelled to his hometown to celebrate Easter with his family.
The gunmen were said to have kidnapped Ukegbu from his home to an unknown location before his lifeless body was later found in the village.
One of the security sources who confirmed the development to the news platform on anonymity because wasn’t authorized to speak on the matter, said the inspector was kidnapped from his house upon his arrival from his base in Owerri and was later found dead in the bush along Mbutu in the Aboh Mbaise LGA.
“Inspector Augustine Ukegbu, who was serving at Orji police divisional headquarters, went home to celebrate Easter with his family at Aboh Mbaise. Around 11 pm on April 8, some gunmen riding in a Lexus jeep came and kidnapped him from his house in the village.
“The abduction was reported at Oke Ovoro police Division. The jeep he was kidnapped with was later found abandoned along the Mbutu Road in Aboh Mbaise. Policemen visited the scene, and the surrounding bush was searched, and the inspector’s corpse was found,” the source reportedly said.
It was revealed that the inspector’s corpse had been deposited in a mortuary in the area by some police operatives, and the Lexus jeep he was kidnapped in was recovered by his colleagues.
Another source, who was embittered by the killing of the cop, said that he saw the slain inspector in Owerri the day he was travelling to the village.
He said, “I saw Inspector Augustine in Owerri, and he told me he was travelling to celebrate Easter with his family at Mbaise. We exchanged pleasantries, and I wished him journey mercy. He was serving at the Orji police divisional and had served at the headquarters in Owerri. He was an operative of the SWAT ( Special Weapons and Tactics) Department. I am saddened by his death.”
Confirming the sad development, the spokesperson for the state police command, Henry Okoye, told journalists that the operatives have commenced an investigation into the kidnap and killing of the Inspector.
