Some policemen on Saturday allegedly shot officers of the Federal Road Safety Corps on patrol on the orders of the Abia State House of Assembly Speaker, Chikwendu Kalu.
The Policemen attached to the speaker of the Abia state house of assembly, Mr Chikwendu Kalu, were said to have attacked and shot at the FRSC officials ostensibly acting on the orders of the speaker.
The FRSC officials were said to have stopped a Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) on the Umuikaa/Aba-Port Harcourt Expresswa in which the wife of the speaker was travelling following which a female Department of State Services (DSS) agent attached to the governor’s wife emerged from the vehicle and tackled one FRSC officer to the ground, Punch reports.
“The DSS officer ran towards the officer who stopped the vehicle, held him by uniform and dragged him to the ground, accusing him of hitting their vehicle,” one eyewitness said, adding that the speaker’s wife allegedly joined the policemen to beat the official.
One of the other occupants of the SUV was said to have placed a call through to the Abia speaker who was in his village nearby. The speaker reportedly arrived with policemen who shot at the unarmed FRSC officials seated in their patrol van.
“The policemen also forcefully opened the patrol vehicle and went away with the battery. They left the team leader and the other officials that were shot on the road. Other road users helped them to the hospital,” said the source.
The FRSC Corps Public Education Officer, Bisi Kazeem, confirmed the incident and said the case had been
“reported to the commissioner of police in the state for further investigations and that it won’t deter the FRSC from saving lives on the highways.”
According to the Punch, the Chief Press Secretary to speaker Okey Chikwendu promised to confirm the incident and get back to the correspondent who contacted him but failed to do so.