Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
The Imo State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corp (NSCDC) has denied its personnel shot a security guard, one Chizorom Anayo, attached to a popular hotel in the state.
Commandant of the NSCDC in the state, Steven Lar, who addressed newsmen, on Tuesday, in his office, described the claim as ‘unfounded and misleading.’.
Anayo was said to have been allegedly shot on the leg by an NSCDC officer attached to a politician while trying to stop the officer from chasing after a commercial tricycle operator who ran into the hotel recently.
But the Lar, while denying the shooting allegation, disclosed that the command has concluded preliminary investigations into the incident, resolving that the victim was not shot as claimed, rather that he sustained injury as a result of scuffle between him and the NSCDC officer who, he claimed, was fighting against being disarmed by the hotel guard.
La’s words,, “The report that the security guard was shot is untrue. We have concluded preliminary investigations and discovered that what happened was that the security guard and his cohorts tried to disarm the officer and he was injured in the ensuing scuffle.
“The officer in question is attached to the Commissioner for Public Safety (Chidi Nwaturuocha) and while trying to protect his principal from hoodlums and Keke riders, who flouted the state government order on the ban of Keke, some of them tried to disarm him. That was when the said security guard sustained some injuries. Our men are strictly instructed on the use of firearms because we do not condone indiscriminate use of firearms.”
Lar, however, noted that investigation into the incident was still ongoing and promised that justice would be done.
“We assure you that we will get to the roots of the matter, but one thing I must let you know is that there are some aggrieved parties who are aggrieved by the banning of Keke. These are the same people who are alleging the shooting by one of our personnel,” he said.