A member of Abia vigilante group, yesterday, shot a 27-year-old eatery worker, Mr. Izuchukwu Mbakwe, dead at De Choice Eatery Umuahia, Abia State capital.
The victim, a native of Umuosu Okaiuga Nkwoegwu in Umuahia North Local Council, was allegedly shot on his laps at very close range.
Spokesperson for Abia State Police Command, Geoffrey Ogbonna, who confirmed the incident, said the suspect has been arrested with his firearm recovered.
The Guardian gathered that the Internal Auditor of the eatery had invited a vigilante on arrival of the victim for his normal duties and demanded his arrest over a missing “Nokia Torch” telephone, belonging to the company.
According to sources, the overzealous security guard stripped Izuchukwu of his clothes and beat him to a stupor before shooting him on his lap at close range with a pump action rifle, which affected his femoral artery.
Following the cries by customers, the victim was taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, but he died at the point when he was about to be referred to a specialist hospital.
The deceased’s elder sister, Mrs. Adaora Chukwuemeka, who alleged that her late brother was left under the rain to bleed to death, demanded for justice.
She said the late brother’s employer, who owed him five months salary, was yet to communicate with the family over his death.
