The Police and government of Akwa Ibom State have launched a hunt for a policeman who shot dead a man at a wedding attended by Governor Udom Emmanuel.
The incident was said to have happened on Thursday, November 7th in Ikot Ukab, Nsit Ubium Local Government Area of the state with the victim identified as Godwin Thomas.
The police spokesperson, Odiko MacDon, confirmed the incident through a statement issued on Friday, but said that the police officer was yet to be identified.
“Our preliminary findings showed that as at the time of the incident, the security personnel from Akwa Ibom Government House had left the area,” Mr MacDon, a superintendent of police, said in the statement.
The police statement said the marriage ceremony was “well attended”, apparently referring to the presence of the governor and other dignitaries at the event. “There were police personnel from within the state and neighbouring states on escort duties,” the police spokesperson added.
“While the identity of the perpetrator of this dastardly act is, for now, unknown, the Commissioner of Police, Zaki Ahmed has ordered for a more discreet investigation to be quickly carried out to unravel the perpetrator of the said crime and prosecute same,” he said.
The Akwa Ibom Government also on Friday said Governor Emmanuel was “deeply saddened” about the killing of Mr Thomas. A statement from the commissioner for information in the state, Charles Udoh, described the killing as a “tragic event at the end of an otherwise joyous occasion”. Mr Udoh said it was an “unwarranted loss of an innocent life”.
