On Sunday night, a young man named Amuche was fatally shot by a police officer from the Nsukka Urban Police Division on Echara Road in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State.
Eyewitnesses reported that the altercation began when a group of plainclothes officers went out for an evening of relaxation. The trouble started when one officer began dancing with a woman, suspected to be a sex worker, in front of a bar. The woman accused the officer of groping her, leading to a heated argument.
An eyewitness, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the escalation: “The woman alerted the bar management, leading to a confrontation between the manager and the officer. This resulted in a physical altercation, with the manager slapping the officer. The situation escalated as the manager mobilized some workers to confront the officer, who was then joined by his colleagues. One officer retrieved an AK-47 rifle from their car and fired shots to disperse the growing crowd. Tragically, a stray bullet struck Amuche, who was playing snooker nearby.”
Following the incident, enraged youths carried Amuche’s body in protest to the Nsukka Police Division. The officers there allegedly instructed them to take the corpse to a morgue.
Efforts to obtain an official response from the police were unsuccessful, as the Command’s spokesperson, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, did not respond to calls at the time of reporting.
The police have yet to release the identity of the officer involved, and there are claims of attempts to cover up the incident. The death of Amuche has sparked widespread outrage and demands for justice from the community.
