Youths in the Agip/Ada George axis of Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State have staged a protest over the alleged killing of a University of Port Harcourt graduate, Anthony Obodo, by a police officer.
Obodo, who was reportedly awaiting his National Youth Service Corps call-up letter, was said to have been driving his vehicle for commercial transport services to raise money ahead of his planned national service when the incident occurred.
Residents who spoke about the incident alleged that a police patrol team operating around Agip Junction/Ada George intercepted the vehicle being driven by Obodo before shots were fired.
Accounts of what happened immediately before the shooting differ.
Some sources alleged that the officers had demanded money from Obodo and that he told them he had nothing to give. They further claimed that he was unaware that the police had been pursuing him before the patrol team blocked his vehicle.
Other residents who said they witnessed the incident alleged that Obodo had failed to stop when officers on patrol flagged him down around the junction and that one of the policemen subsequently opened fire on the vehicle.
The competing accounts have not been independently established.
Obodo was reportedly hit by gunfire, while three other persons in the vehicle were said to have sustained injuries.
A stray bullet also allegedly struck a Point of Sale operator who was seated by the roadside, injuring her.
The injured persons were taken to Palmas Hospital for emergency treatment, where Obodo was reportedly pronounced dead.
The incident triggered outrage in the area, with youths taking to the streets on Friday to demand the arrest and prosecution of the police officer alleged to have fired the fatal shot.
The protesters called on the authorities to ensure that the circumstances surrounding the shooting were thoroughly investigated and that anyone found responsible was brought to justice.
Obodo’s father, Princewill Obodo, from Agba Ndele in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, also demanded justice for his son.
According to the family, Obodo had resorted to using his vehicle for transport services as a means of earning money before commencing national service.
According to the family, Obodo had resorted to using his vehicle for transport services as a means of earning money before commencing national service.
The father said the description of his son as a fraudster after his death compounded the family’s grief and maintained that the circumstances of the shooting should be properly investigated.
As of the time of the report, the Rivers State Police Command had not publicly given its account of the incident.
The Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Agabe Blessing Kaborlo, was reportedly unreachable despite attempts to obtain the Command’s response between Thursday evening and Friday.
The allegation that a police officer shot Obodo remains unproven pending an official investigation, while the differing eyewitness accounts leave key questions over what led to the shooting unresolved.