Man shot by Akwa Ibom DPO cries out for help

Victor David, who was shot by a Divisional Police Officer in Akwa Ibom State Police Command said on Wednesday that he had been rendered incapacitated, TOPNAIJA.NG reports.

David, a father of two, told Southern City News in Uyo that he was shot on Saturday, April 17, 2018, by Mr Joseph Udonwo, who was then serving as the DPO in Okobo Local Government, but now transferred to Nsit-Ubim LGA of the state.

The victim, a passenger loader in a motor park at Okobo, called on the acting Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, and the state Commissioner of Police, Zaki Ahmed, to ensure that justice was done in the matter to serve as a deterrent to others.

He said, “I am using this medium to call on the acting IGP and the state CP, to bring the officer to book and ensure that he pays for the damage that was done.

“I want justice; my right leg has been condemned. I have been in pains for the past one year; I live on charity now as I cannot do anything on my own.

“Since he is on salary, they should ensure that he renders part of that salary to me until I am well and able to make a living.”

Narrating his ordeal, David, who now walks with the support of crutches, said, “I was at the Okobo motor park that Saturday, April 17, 2018, when I suddenly saw some policemen who drove in with their vehicles towards a medical centre close to the park.

“There was a robbery at the medical facility the previous night and when the policemen arrived, all of us, including some passengers, rushed to see what was happening. I knew two of the policemen.

“When I arrived at the scene of the robbery, the DPO ordered me to enter the car and they drove me to the police station at Okobo, where the DPO took me to a secluded place and started behaving funny.

“He shot on the ground twice and missed my leg narrowly, but the third bullet hit me on my right leg; the bullet pierced through the flesh to the other side,” he said.

David explained that the DPO, on noticing that he had injured an innocent person, rushed him to a medical facility at Iquita, in Oron LGA.

He added that the medical personnel, having realised that he had lost so much blood, referred him to the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Uyo.

According to him, the DPO got him admitted to UUTH with a wrong name, adding that he (the DPO) later apologised to him.

He, however, added that the DPO’s apology would not assuage his pains, insisting that something must be done.

“The DPO has apologised to me, but his apology was a mere afterthought. He came begging me that it was a mistake and that he was under a spell, but this is not true,” David insisted.

The wife of the victim, Agnes David, called on human rights organisations to come to the aid of the family.

“Everything is difficult for us now. I was pregnant when the incident happened and I put to birth while still taking care of my husband. Now, the baby is grown and she has to start attending school by September this year,” she lamented.

However, a network of human rights group in Akwa Ibom, comprising non-governmental organisations, individual groups, has initiated action on the matter.

In a letter addressed to the Commissioner of Police on the issue, the Akwa Ibom State Coordinator of the group, Mr Clifford Thomas, called on the police authority to launch a full-scale investigation into the matter with a view to ensuring that justice was done.