A police sergeant, Mr. Anthony Effiong; was on Tuesday arrested at the Independent National Electoral Commission office in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State by his colleagues from the state’s police command to avert disaster.
Effiong, who was one of the security details at INEC premises, allegedly opened fire to scare people who were about to engage one another in a free-for-all following a disagreement on the genuineness of electoral materials to be inspected by the lawyers for the Action Congress of Nigeria and the Peoples Democratic Party of Nigeria.
Effiong had said, “The first fire was to scare people, the next ones would be targeted at the people directly. I will kill them. It is part of our training.”
After he opened fire the first time, INEC employees ran inside their offices while others persuaded policemen around, who were able to seize the cartridge of the gun from him. A bullet was also picked up by one of the policemen.
An Assistant Superintendent of Police, Mr. Agba Lorham, who arrived the premises with his convoy after a call by INEC officials, finally seized the gun and took off Effiong’s cap before taking him to Ikot Akpanabia, the headquarters of Akwa Ibom State Police Command.
When asked why the policeman acted in that manner, Lorham replied that no single policeman had been instructed to open fire unnecessarily, especially in a place like INEC premises where tension was already high.
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Policeman scares INEC officials