Youths of Obuda village in Aba South Local Government Area of Abia State on Thursday, took to the streets of the commercial city to protest the alleged killing of a member of the community by personnel of the Abia State Vigilante Service (AVS) also known as Bakassi Boys.
While reports have it that the deceased, who was later identified simply as Sunny, was killed as a result of cult related issues, others have it that a tricycle operator was killed for what he knew nothing about.
The youths, who caused traffic gridlock on the road, took the corpse of the deceased to the Aba Central Police Station to register their grievance.
Residents and shop owners were said to have immediately closed shop to avoid being caught in the web of the protest.
While it was yet-to-be known the cause of the crisis that led to the shooting of the deceased in the thigh on Sunday, sources within the area said that troubled started when some Bakassi boys went to the area to arrest some persons believed to be members of Aro-Cult, a dreaded cult group in the area for defecating indiscriminately and smoking Indian hemp in farms and drainage system along Uratta by Port Harcourt road.
The source said that the indiscriminate defecation in the area has become a norm, posing dangers to the health of residents of the area.
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The activities of the cult gang were said to be growing by the day and to curb their activities, personnel of the AVS were drafted to stem them in the area.
Events were said to have gone out of hand when one of the boys suspected to be a member of the cult group who was arrested for indiscriminate defecation, stabbed a personnel of the AVS with a knife which gave him the chance to flee.
It was gathered that other AVS personnel at the scene gave the fleeing suspect a hot chase and subsequent combing of the area in search of him and other members of the gang.
Sunny, who was working in a tricycle loading bay on that fateful day, was reportedly identified as a member of the cult group that stabbed the AVS personnel by another member of Aro, leading to his arrest.
But, in an attempt to flee, he was reportedly shot in the thigh by the AVS squad.
According to sources, Sunny was rushed to an undisclosed hospital where the bullet was extracted from him and treatment being administered.
The death of Sunny on Thursday morning sparked protest by the youths of the Obuda community, leading to an attack on their office and patrol van.
They were however dispersed by the police when they came to the Aba CPS gate with the corpse of the deceased.
The State Command Spokesman of Nigeria Police Force (NPF), DSP Geoffrey Ogbonna could not be reached for comments.
The member representing Aba South State Constituency in Abia State House of Assembly, Hon. Obinna Ichita was yet to respond to series of text to his phone at the time of filing the report. [THE NATION]
