An angry mob had on Wednesday, September 24, 2014 launched and attack on Obanliku Police Station in the Obanliku Local Government Area of Cross River State over claims that some police officers were involved in a robbery attack which killed a prominent son of the town.
Furthermore,it was learnt that the mob destroyed and burnt down motorcycles and vehicles that were parked in the station premises around 4 am.
A man who was present during the unrest, Mr. Clement Ojong, identified the dead victim simply as Sylvester. He said the incident occured in the wee hours of said day.
He said: “We got the information around 4am that one of the sons of Obanliku, Sylvester, who was a businessman, was robbed and shot dead by robbers in his house.
He said they heard the victim shot one of the acclaimed police-robbers before they finally killed him. So, a total of two people died during the attack and the police had deposited the corpses at the Sankwala General Hospital mortuary.
He added that the mob was bent on following the policemen to the mortuary in order to find out who the dead robber was. To their surpreise, they found out the dead robber was a police officer serving in the Obanliku police command.
In his words, “The youths got angry and invaded the police station. The Divisional Police Officer and other policemen on duty ran away for fear of being lynched. The youths in their anger set fire on motorcycles and some vehicles that were parked in the station. They also burnt some documents that they seized from the station.
“The Area Command has waded into the matter now and calm has returned to the town. We are all working together to see how the issue can be amicably resolved.”
Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Hogan Bassey, said the matter was still being investigated to reveal those who were involved in the robbery attack.
