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The police in Abia State have released the body of Chinedu Ukwu, a truck driver who was killed during a shootout between two police teams in the state.
Mr Ukwu, a father of four, died on 14 August 2024 after being hit by a stray bullet during a reported shootout between two police teams in Aba, Abia State.
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He hailed from Ikpeze-Uno, Arondizuogu, a community in Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo State, but resided in Aba.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the shootout occurred between police patrol teams from Police Area Command in Aba and another police team from Umuahia, the state capital.
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Residents claimed the operatives appeared to have mistaken themselves for members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the area.
IPOB, a group leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra from South-east and some parts of South-south Nigeria, has been linked to some deadly attacks in the two regions.
In a statement on 15 August 2024, the police spokesperson in Abia State, Maureen Chinaka, said police authorities had begun investigating the incident.
Ms Chinaka, then an assistant superintendent of police, said there was “no credible evidence to suggest that police officers mistook themselves for members of IPOB and fired at each other.”
“What we can confirm is that there was a shooting in that area, which resulted in the death of a civilian,” she stated.
The police spokesperson further told PREMIUM TIMES on 15 August 2024 that a stray bullet killed the victim during a shootout between police operatives and some hoodlums.
She suggested that there was no evidence that the stray bullet came from police operatives.
Meanwhile, the family, in August, asked President Bola Tinubu to ensure justice for the slain victim.
In November, the family detailed how they had been battling to survive following the death of their breadwinner.
Release of the body
PREMIUM TIMES extensively reported that the police in Abia State declined to release the body of Mr Ukwu despite the pleas from his family.
Daniel Ukwu, the family head, told this newspaper in November that the police claimed they were keeping the corpse because they suspected that the slain driver was an IPOB member.
“We have waited for them for more than two months to come up with their findings, but we haven’t seen anything,” Mr Ukwu said in November.
He added that the police were also blocking them from seeing the corpse at the mortuary.
But Mr Ukwu told PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday that the police released the corpse to the family on 21 January.
“They gave us the tally and letter of authority to bury (the corpse),” he said.
He said the development came about three days after the family petitioned the Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, over the incident and the refusal of the police to release his corpse.
“After our petition, we were invited at the Abia Government House and wrote statement and the governor ordered investigation into our petition,” he recalled.
“We collected the mortuary tally and the letter of authority to bury from the State Criminal Investigation Department of the police last week Tuesday.”
The family head, however, lamented that the police had not visited the victim’s residence since the incident.
He appealed to the state government and public-spirited Nigerians to come to the aid of the family, given the loss of their breadwinner.
Burial
The 62-year-old truck driver will be buried on 21 February in his hometown in Arondizuogu, Ideato North Council Area of Imo State, according to his burial arrangements forwarded to PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday.
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