A Policeman believed
to be under the influence of alcohol shot 32-year-old Victoria Ekpe to death at
a close range on Sunday at Ikot Ansa in Calabar Municipal Area of Cross River
State.
An eyewitness who
declined to give her name said the victim was shot on the neck and she died on
the spot.
She alleged that the
suspect was shouting, “I feel like shooting somebody” and ended up shooting the
victim.
When DAILY POST
visited the family home of the victim at Joseph Mkpa Street, Ikot Ansa
community in Calabar Municipal, our reporter met a large crowd of sympathisers.
The suspect, Sergeant
Edu Nkanu, from Abi Local Government of Cross River, allegedly returned home
drunk from a party at about 8.30 pm on Sunday with a locally made pistol in his
pocket.
Another eyewitness,
Elizabeth Bassey, said Sergeant Nkanu came home drunk from a party and when she
asked him why he always comes home drunk, he brought out a pistol
from his pocket and pointed it at her, but sensing danger, she ran but her late
cousin who never took part in their discussion was shot.
“On Sunday around past
five in the evening, myself and my late cousin went out and came back by 8.30
pm, she stood outside pressing her phone while I went in to change.
“By the time I came
out, she was still standing there, fiddling her phone and she asked me what was
going on inside the room and I told her nothing and she asked me I sprayed
perfume and I said yes,” she said.
The eyewitness further
said, “At that particular time, the policeman came back from an outing and our
mummy was also outside, Mma asked him what he brought from his outing, he told
her he did not come home with anything, he left Mma and came to the passage
where I was standing,
“I asked him why he
always gets drunk anytime he goes out, immediately, he turned and brought out a
pistol from his pocket cocked it and pointed it at me, saying this is what I
brought from the party. I got scared and ran and my dead sister who was
just busy with her phone, not knowing what we were discussing, he
turned the gun to her direction and shot her at her neck”.
The elder Sister to
late Victoria, Ekanem Ekpe, said her sister was killed in front of her 6-years
old daughter, Blessing who drew her attention to the death of her mother.
“This is her daughter
Blessing, and she was standing by the mother when she was shot. I was inside
when I heard the gunshot but I did not come out immediately until when I heard
the daughter screaming, ‘uncle you have killed my mummy’ that was when I came
out.
“Behold my sister was
lying down dead, blood was gushing out from the side of her neck. I
saw him with a gun and I said, ‘Nkanu, what happened, you have killed my
sister, he was just staring at the gun and at my sister, all he could say was,
Mma Nurse, I don’t know what happened.
“That was when I held
him and started shouting; people came out and managed to collect the
gun from him. I don’t understand why a police officer would rather take
people’s life instead of saving lives.
“We were told at the
police station that he had killed someone like this before where he was serving
in Obubra. He has a criminal file in Police custody before now.
Please, we want justice for my sister,” She lamented.
When contacted, the
Police Public Relation Officer, Irene Ugbo, confirmed the incident and promised
that the culprit would be dismissed and tried in the court of law.
“The Policeman has
been arrested, he is in our custody and we are going to deal with him
decisively because the gun that he used to shoot the deceased is not our gun.
It is a locally made pistol so he is going to tell us where he got that gun and
who ordered him to shoot an innocent woman.
“There was no quarrel
between them as we were told. Although we heard that he was used to
threatening people in the house. We are going to try him for murder, dismiss
him and send him to court.”
DT
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