An angry mob Wednesday, attacked the Obanliku Police Station in Obanliku Local Government Area of Cross River State, after it was alleged that some policemen at the station were involved in a robbery incident.
Angry youths, it was learnt, besieged the police station as early as 4am after a prominent son of the town was robbed and killed by the suspected policemen disguised as robbers and burnt down motorcycles and vehicles parked in the premises.
An eyewitness, Mr. Clement Ojong, who identified the dead victim simply as Sylvester, said the incident happened in the early hours of the day.
Ojong said, “We got the information around 4am that one of the sons of Obanliku who is a businessman that deals in petroleum products was robbed and shot dead by robbers in his house. His name is Sylvester.
“We also learnt that Sylvester shot one of the robbers before he was killed and the police had deposited the two bodies at the morgue of Sankwala General Hospital. The youths insisted on accompanying the police to the morgue to see and identify who the dead robber was.
“Incidentally, the dead robber was discovered to be a police officer serving here in Obanliku. The youths then got angry and invaded the police station. The Divisional Police Officer and other policemen on duty ran away for fear of being lynched. The youths in their anger set fire on bikes and some vehicles that were parked in the station and some documents that they seized from the station.
“They had planned to burn down the station but for the fact that there are aware that the building housing the station is a rented house. The Area Command has waded into the matter now and calm has returned to the town. We are all working together now to see how the issue can be amicably resolved”.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Hogan Bassey, confirmed the development, adding that investigations have commenced.
Bassey said, “The case was reported at Obanliku, it is under investigation. The investigation will reveal those who are involved”.
