Fawaz Adebisi
Pandemonium has ensued at the Imo state secretariat, following a clash between operatives of the Ebubeagu Security Network and men of the state police command, leaving many injured.
PLATFORM TIMES gathered that the injured civil servants just resumed work after a two-day sit-at-home order, given by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB.
According to witnesses, the incident ensued with a mild argument when a policeman accosted the Ebubeagu operative for ‘over-using his power’, as it escalated into a fight and shooting of guns.
An eyewitness recounted that a group of policemen dragged an operative of the Ebubeagu group near the state’s Attorney General’s office.
After a while, a group of operatives of Ebubeagu appeared and engaged the policemen in a scuffle, as they started shooting sporadically in the air.
As a result of this, the secretariat was in total confusion, which led to some workers sustaining various degrees of injuries, the source said.
According to another source, the policemen accused operatives of the Ebubeagu of over-exercising their powers and disturbing the job of the police command.
However, when contacted, the Imo state government debunked news of gunmen attacking workers at the state Secretariat during working hours.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Oguwike Nwachuku, in a statement, said what was witnessed at the Secretariat was the police trailing a suspect in a case to effect his arrest in an alleged crime when some gunshots were released in the air.
“There was no such incident involving gunmen as it is currently being peddled at some quarters. It was an attempt to effect the person’s arrest that the police fired warning shots at the Secretariat. Members of the public are therefore advised to ignore any information linking the incident to unknown gunmen as there was nothing of such,” he said.
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