The Ebonyi State Police Command has arrested a vigilance group leader in the Umuhuali community of Ishielu Local Government Area of the state, Peter Nwokpo, for allegedly killing a six-year-old girl, Chinaecherem Nwite.
The incident occurred at Azuogba-agu village of the community during the burial of one Peter Ude.
A resident of the area, who gave his name simply as Okechukwu, said the family of late Ude had invited Nwokpo and members of his vigilance group to the burial to assist in maintaining law and order when the incident occurred.
“We were at the burial of one of our kinsmen, Ude, when we suddenly heard a gunshot.
“Then we discovered that a six-year-old girl had been shot and her lifeless body was lying on the ground. After asking questions we found out that it was the leader of the vigilance group invited to maintain law and order at the burial, Mr. Peter Nwokpo, who fired the gun.
“Some people said it was an accidental discharge but others said it was a flimsy excuse, questioning why the man was shooting indiscriminately,” Okechukwu said.
It was learnt that three other persons sustained varying degrees of injuries in the incident. One of them, Ahamefula Usulour, told journalists that he saw the leader of the vigilance group when he arrived the venue of the burial ceremony, carrying a gun.
Usulour, who sustained an injury in the belly, claimed that Nwokpo cocked and shot into the air upon his arrival.
He said it was while Nwokpo was attempting to fire more gunshots into the air that he released the bullet which killed the six-year-old and wounded three other people.
“We had warned the man to stop shooting when he shot the first one but he refused to listen to us. He was very drunk and that was why he didn’t listen to us and continued shooting,” Usulour said.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, ASP George Okafor, confirmed the incident.
He said, “Yes, on April 8, at about 11.35am, one Okechukwu Nwite from Azuogba-agu Village, Umuhuali community in the Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State reported to the police that while he was at the burial ceremony of late Peter Ude, in the village, one Peter Nwokpo, a member of the comminuty vigilance group accidentally discharged a cartridge from his pump action gun which hit and killed a six-year-old girl, Chinaecherem Nwite.”
Okafor said the police had arrested the suspect and seized the gun.
He added that the victim’s corpse had been deposited in a morgue, while the police had commenced investigation into the case.
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