1 dead, station razed after youths, police clash in Imo

1 dead, station razed after youths, police clash in Imo

A bloody clash between the youths of Isinweke in Ihitte Uboma Local Government Area of Imo State and the police in the area on Tuesday, lead to the death of a youth and the burning of the divisional police station in the community.

An eyewitness from the area told our correspondent that trouble started when some policemen on an arrest mission were resisted by the youths who allegedly attacked the officers in the community.

The officers, in an attempt to save themselves, were said to have shot into the air, with a stray bullet hitting the victim who later died at a hospital.

The death of the youth angered other youths of the community, who mobilised and set the divisional police station at Isinweke on fire.

It gathered that two other police officers sustained machete injuries during the melee

The Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO)in the state, Orlando Ikeokwu, who confirmed the incident to newsmen, explained that two of the policemen who went to effect the arrest were attacked and injured by the youths and that the youths freed the suspect in the process.

The PPRO clarified that the shoot which was fired by the police officer was not intentional but a warning to scare off the restless youths. However, a stray bullet strikes the victim in the process.

Ikeokwu disclosed that the policemen involved in the incident have been deployed to the station, adding that the state Commissioner of Police, Nasiru Mohammed, had ordered an investigation into the matter.

1 dead, station razed after youths, police clash in Imo