Abia: Heavy Shooting Youths clash with Police over death of kinsman In Custody

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There is palpable tension in Bende local government area of Abia State as residents and indigenes of Bende town (community hosting Bende Police Divisional Headquarters) and police personnel in the division clashed over the death of a Wisdom Akobundu in custody..

The Nation learnt in an attempt to stop the angry youths from gaining entry into the station, the police operatives resorted to shooting sporadically into the air to scare the youths away.

This forced some shop owners around the area, which also serves as the host of the Bende local government area headquarters, to close their shops abruptly.

Those waiting in front of the local government area headquarters to board vehicle to Umuahia, the state capital and other parts of the State were said to also join in scampering for safety.

Commercial and private car owners heading to the Bende local government area headquarters, using the Umuahia-Bende-Ohafia-Arochukwu Expressway were forced to use other routes to avoid being trapped in the fracas between the youths and police officers.

It was alleged the deceased was invited for questioning by a yet-to-be identified policeman over a case involving theft of property.

According to the source, who pleaded anonymous, Akobundu was accused of buying stolen property from scavengers.

It was learnt that, Akobundu died while he was being questioned during interrogation by the investigating police team.

Yet-to-be verified sources claimed that the deceased died during interrogation after the police team brutalised him, leading to his slumping in the station.

It was learnt that at first, the affected policemen thought he was pretending, but when they realised that it wasn’t a ploy, they tried to revive him but couldn’t.