A
painter, Mr. Ese Akpan, had told his family on Tuesday that he was going out to
get the money owed him by a construction company.
He,
however, did not get to his destination, as he was killed by a stray bullet
from a police team escorting a bullion van to a bank.
According
to a Closed-Circuit Television camera, which captured the scene, Ese was shot
at exactly 1.45pm on Old Aba Road, Rumuomasi, Port-Harcourt, Rivers State.
Punch
Metro, which
obtained footage of the incident, observed that Camera 4 captured Ese as he
walked along the road while the police van came behind.
The
second side, captured by Camera 1, showed a woman with a baby standing at the
bus stop as Ese approached.
There
was a sudden gunshot which hit the 60-year-old, while the frightened woman fled
the sight.
About
two minutes afterwards, some sympathisers, including workers of First Rivers
Hospital Limited, a private facility in front of which the incident occurred,
rushed to help the victim.
An
official at the hospital, who did not want to be identified, said a few minutes
after the victim was taken to the hospital, a man came in to check on him.
He
said, “The man said the escort team was coming from an eatery at Rumukoro where
the operatives had gone to pick some money. He said they were heading towards a
bank in the area and he was driving behind the van when they fired the shot. He
said they usually did that when they approached where they were taking money
to. Unfortunately, the man was hit by the bullet. He told us to save his life.”
A
senior official at the hospital, who spoke for the management, said efforts by
the hospital to save Ese were abortive.
A member
of the family, Blessing, asked the authorities not to sweep the case under the
carpet.
-Punch
No comments:
Post a Comment