The Enugu State Police Command has said no life was lost at the incident involving a man and his girlfriend at a police checkpoint in the state capital.
This is contained in a statement issued by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, on Sunday in Enugu.
In a statement titled: “Police Setting Record Straight on Misleading Alleged Shooting of Man and Girlfriend Dead in Enugu”, Ndukwe said that the incident took place on 21 July, at about 2p.m at the EFCC Roundabout, Independence Layout, Enugu.
“The attention of the Command has been drawn to a viral video alleging that the Police shot a young man and his girlfriend dead, at Monkey Roundabout, close to EFCC Office, Enugu’.
“The Command, hereby, wishes to set the record straight as follows:
“That on July 21 a team of police operatives serving in 3 Police Mobile Force (PMF) Enugu, while on routine stop-and-search duty at EFCC Roundabout, Independence Layout flagged down the driver of a Lexus Saloon Car.
“The driver, rather than stop, recklessly zoomed off, knocking down one of the operatives and pulling him along to a distance of about four poles, before he was forced to stop by the other members of the team, who immediately went after him.
“In the bid to restrain the driver from further escape, one of the operatives fired a knee-level shot, which got him in the thigh,” he said.
He also noted that the Inspector, Aneka Ndayi, who sustained severe bodily injuries; and the driver, Christian Ogwuike, were both moved to the hospital and responding to treatment.
He said the state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr Abubakar Lawal, had ordered the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department, to investigate the incident and come up with actionable findings.
The police spokesman said that the commissioner had urged residents, particularly motorists, to always cooperate with police officers performing road duties, to avoid such occurrences.