Many people were injured while others abandoned their workplaces Wednesday at the Imo state Secretariat when the police and the state government sponsored Ebubeagu militia engaged themselves.
It was gathered that the sporadic shooting had caused pandemonium which resulted in a stampede that made people, especially civil servants to scamper for safety.
May people sustained varying degrees of injury .
According to a witness,”an operative of the Ebubeagu group was allegedly being bullied by a group of policemen near the state’s Attorney General’s office situation at Block 10. Almost immediately, other operatives of Ebubeagu appeared from nowhere and engaged the policemen challenged the policemen .As the Policemen shot into the air , the Ebubeagu operatives also started shooting sporadically into the air . Although, no one was shot .
“As a result of this, there was a stampede at the Secretariat that led to some workers sustaining various degrees of injuries.”
A civil servant who spoke on a condition of anonymity said the policemen accused operatives of the Ebubeagu of over- stepping their bounds of their duties and trying to usurp the of duties of the police command.
He said, “it started with a little argument when a policeman accosted the Ebubeagu operative of over-using his power, and it soon degenerated to a fight and shooting of guns.”
Another Civil Servant who does not want his name mentioned disclosed that at about 10:30 Am that there was shooting at Block 10 which around the office of the Attorney – General and Commissioner for Justice. He said that the shooting by the Police and Ebubeagu caused stampede as many civil servants sustained injuries as they were trying to flee for safety .
Meanwhile, the government of Imo state has debunked news of unknown gunmen attacking Imo workers at the state Secretariat during working hour.
Oguwike Nwachuku, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, in a release, said what was witnessed at the Secretariat was the police trailing a suspect in a case in order to effect his arrest in an alleged crime when some gunshots were released in the air.
“There was no such incident involving unknown gunmen as it is currently being peddled at some quarters. It was an attempt to effect the person’s arrest that the police fired warning shots at the Secretariat.
“Members of the public are therefore advised to ignore any information linking the incident to unknown gunmen as there was nothing of such.”
