Pandemonium broke out at Senator Stella Oduah’s Estate in the Akili-Ozizor community of Ogbaru Local Government Area, Anambra State, following the tragic shooting and killing of Noel Chinedu Okechukwu, a final-year Fine and Applied Arts student of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU), Igbariam.
The incident occurred on Saturday, August 17, when Okechukwu was allegedly shot by private security guards stationed at the estate.
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EKO HOT BLOG reports that in a petition addressed to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Ogbaru Police Division in Atani, Okechukwu’s father, Rex Peters Okechukwu, a veteran journalist and pioneer Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Anambra State Council, demanded justice for his son.
According to the petition, Okechukwu had visited the estate, located in a neighboring community to Ochuche, to purchase fresh fish from a pond within the estate. Upon arrival, he was reportedly denied entry by the security guards, leading to an altercation. During the confrontation, one of the guards allegedly fired a pump-action rifle, fatally wounding Okechukwu.
The petition further alleges that after shooting Okechukwu, the guards attempted to revive him by giving him water, but he succumbed to his injuries shortly after. The guards then reportedly sent a motorcyclist to inform the family of the tragic event.
Rex Peters Okechukwu is demanding justice, arguing that the guards had no right to take his son’s life and that, if there were any suspicions of criminal activity, they should have handed him over to the police instead of resorting to lethal force.
In response, the DPO of Atani, Mr. Andrew, provided a different account of the incident. According to him, the deceased was allegedly part of a group involved in looting and vandalizing properties within the estate.
He claimed that the area was known to be infested with unknown gunmen, and when the security guards confronted the group, they allegedly opened fire, prompting the guards to return fire, which resulted in Okechukwu’s death while his accomplices fled.
The DPO also expressed skepticism about the petitioner’s relationship with the deceased, noting that the father reported the incident to the police several days after it occurred. The case has since been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Annex, Awkuzu, for further investigation.
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