The Police in Delta State have arrested and detained an inspector linked to the killing of a young man – Onyeka Ibe – along the Asaba-Ugbolu road in Asaba, which sparked off street protests in the State capital on Wednesday.
The Police spokesman in the State, DSP Bright Edafe, who confirmed the arrest, also said investigation has commenced on the matter but failed to disclose the name of the inspector.
“The Police inspector has been identified, arrested, paraded, and detained. The Command assures members of the public and the deceased family of justice. Investigation has commenced, and he will be arraigned in court for prosecution,” DSP Edafe disclosed through a terse statement on Wednesday.
Protest erupted in Asaba on Wednesday following the killing of a young man named Onyeka Ibe by the now detained inspector. The remains of the young man were quickly deposited in a morgue but the angry protesters retrieved the body and paraded it at the State Police Headquarters.
Bearing different placards, the protesters, who blocked major roads in the State capital, demanded justice for the killing of the harmless young man.
Meanwhile, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has sued for calm, urging the police to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter.
He decried the shooting of Mr. Onyeka Ibe which was said to have occurred along Ugbolu- Illah road by a member of stop -and-search police team on duty.
The governor, through a statement by his Chief Press Secretary Olisa Ifeajika, sued for calm, and appealed to residents not to take the laws into their hands but should allow the police to conduct an in-depth probe into the circumstances surrounding the tragic incident.
He confirmed that the police officer – an Inspector – who allegedly fired the shot that killed Ibe, has promptly arrested and currently being detained at the command Headquarters in Asaba.
Okowa, while expressing his condolences to the family of the deceased, assured that the law will take its course on the incident after a thorough investigation.