Family, police dispute claims over man’s death

The Anionwu family in Warri, Delta State, have disputed the position of the police over the death of their son, Emeka.

The elder sister of the deceased, Linian Anionwu, told newsmen in Warri yesterday that her brother (27) was murdered by some people on August 28 and not robbers as the police claimed.

She explained that Emeka on that fateful day accompanied his fiancé, Chioma Iwuchukwu, to her parents’ house at Enerhen in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta.

“On that fateful August 28, Chioma came to our Edjeba home to meet Emeka who just returned from offshore work. They left at 5:00 pm to Enerhen home of her dad. They were supposed to return to Edejeba but apparently stayed behind on Chioma’s insistence that the parents who travelled might no longer return till the day after

“When Chioma’s father, Mr Athan Iwuchukwu, visited the Enerhen Police station the next day, he first labelled my brother in his first statement as one among a robbery gang who attacked his home and got killed. He never mentioned that my brother was guest to her daughter and they both slept in the house in company of Chioma’s brother,” she said.

However, the Police Public Relations Officer, Delta Command, CSP Andrew Aniamaka, said three armed robbers were about to rob when Emeka resisted them and was shot dead.

“That is the much we know for now but we are investigating to bring these robbers to book. Immediately we got wind of the attack, our men, led by a Superintendent of Police, moved in but unfortunately they had left.

But we could only convey the corpse to the mortuary and took inventory of their expended cartridge,” Aniamaka said.

(NAN)