Some policemen have been captured on camera opening fire on protesting students in Abia State Polytechnic, Aba.
The students were protesting against the alleged rape of an 18-year-old female undergraduate of the school by operatives of the Special Rapid Response (SRS) squad of Abia Police Command in the state.
The teenage student was allegedly taken away from a lodge at Aba and subsequently assaulted.
In a video obtained by SaharaReporters, the policemen were seen shooting directly at the protesting students who were chanting and displaying placards to show their grievances.
They also blocked the busy Aba-Owerri Road and prevented motorists from passing.
When the police started shooting, the protesting students ran helter-skelter to avoid being hit by bullets.
It was learnt that some police officers perceived the smell of ‘weed’ while passing by an off-campus students’ hostel on Wednesday, September 22, 2021, raided a lodge and arrested three male and three female students.
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Five of them were released after they were allegedly extorted by the policemen, who kept the 18-year-old student behind.
The student, who was raped while in detention by three officers, was later hospitalised and found in a critical condition.
Meanwhile, the wife of the state governor, Nkechi Ikpeazu, who was represented by Dr Suzzy Nwachukwu, a medical practitioner attached to the Office of the Wife of the Governor while visiting the victim at the hospital on Thursday, condemned the action of the policemen.
She said the governor’s wife had pledged to pay the medical bill of the student, Daily Post reports.
Mrs Ikpeazu also directed that the student should be moved to another medical facility within the state for better care.
