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Policeman kills guest at wedding
•Stampede as mob beats him to death
CAJETAN MMUTA,
Asaba
A
society wedding on Saturday in Asaba, the Delta State capital, turned tragic as
a mobile policeman allegedly shot and killed a female guest in the thick of the
celebration.
The policeman was also allegedly mobbed by
angry guests even as unconfirmed reports alleged he died yesterday morning.
The deceased, a guest identified as Miss
Eli a 22-year-old undergraduate of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT),
was reportedly waltzing away to the pulsating beat of music being provided by a
live band when she was hit on the head moments by a gun shot.
The incident which punctured the festive
atmosphere saw angry youths and other guests at the event promptly descending on
the mobile policeman whom they beat black and blue.
According to a guest, the cop whose names
were not immediately ascertained, was one of a two-man escort that provided
security for the bridegroom from his Port Harcourt base to Delta State.
Sources said he had pointed his gun into
the air to shoot and possibly scare off the surging crowd at the ceremony which
was moving towards the stack of money sprayed on the dancing floor for the
newly-wedded couple.
His state of mind could not be
ascertained, but sources alleged that a bullet came off his gun and hit the
victim, who fell down immediately and sprawled helplessly on the ground and
died.
Apparently, irked by the sudden turn of
events, guests, mainly youths, descended on the mobile policeman with broken
bottles, chairs and blocks and beat him up like a common criminal.
Daily Champion
learnt that the policeman who allegedly later died early
yesterday morning had escorted the bridegroom from Port Harcourt to Umuda Ike
Village, near Ogbomata Quarters on Ibusa Road, Asaba, venue of the ceremony.
According to the sources, the news of the
death sparked off pandemonium as wedding guests scampered for safety even as
tables were upturned and food and drinks being served were abruptly suspended.
When Daily Champion visited the
scene at about 6.00p.m. Saturday, several guests and relations of the bride were
spotted discussing the incident while the live band were on their way out of the
venue with caterers busy gathering plates and chairs together.
Personnel of the state police command’s
Quick Response Squad were immediately alerted and on arrival, shot into the
air before taking the body of their blood-soaked colleague away to an unknown
hospital.
The bride, said to be an undergraduate of
the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUT), also allegedly
collapsed few minutes after the shooting and was reportedly taken away to an
unknown place by the groom.
However, the state police spokesman, Mr.
Amen Obasuyi (ASP), was said to be out of town when Daily Champion
called, but sources close to the "A" Division of the command in Asaba, confirmed
the incident and said the matter had been reported to the station and was being
investigated.
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