Survivor of deadly shooting by police officer says authorities have abandoned him

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Charles Mkpang, the lone survivor of the 23 March shooting by an alleged berserk police officer in Calabar, Cross River State, says the authorities have abandoned him.

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Mr Mkpang disclosed this in Calabar on Sunday while answering questions from journalists.

He said he had suffered a series of complications since the incident, and that he could not undergo a recommended surgery because of a lack of funds.

It would be recalled that on 23 March, an alleged mentally unstable police inspector, Effiong Bassey, opened fire on people in front of the Atakpa Divisional Police Station, Calabar, killing four people.

Mr Mkpang, 46, is the only survivor of the shooting. He was badly injured and is currently battling to stay alive.

He told reporters that the incident had left him with partial paralysis, and that a hole in his mouth had affected his ability to eat and speak.

“If I drink water or eat anything, it comes out through my nose. I cannot lift my left hand or leg. I am living in pain. After the initial surgery, I was moved to a stroke centre.

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“Support from the police and government has drastically dropped. After the incident, the AIG sent me N50,000 through his wife. The following day, he sent N100,000.

“I got N50,000 through a woman from the police command in the state. I also received N400,000 from the governor’s wife, and N500,000 from a private individual called VeryDarkMan,” he said.

Mr Mkpang, a window fabricator, said that the money he had received so far had been spent, and he had no money to continue further treatments.

He said that his efforts to contact Stanley Nsemo, the member representing Calabar Municipality in the Cross River House of Assembly, had been fruitless.

“He promised to take the matter to court, but nothing has happened. My business is currently shut down because of my condition.

“My family is passing through a period of torture, my two children are facing hardship,” he said.

When contacted, the Commissioner of Police in Cross River, Olusegun Omosanyin, said the shooting happened before he assumed duty.

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Mr Omosanyin stated that the command’s efforts to get the state government to pay the bills for the survivor’s treatment had not yielded results.

“We forwarded requests for both the deceased and the injured to the state government, but it seems that the government takes the matter as purely police negligence.

“The shooter has been dismissed from service, and charged to court, he is currently remanded at the Calabar Correctional Centre,” he said.

The police commissioner said that he personally contributed financially to the survivor’s treatment.

(NAN)