Man, 35, Drowns In Attempt To Escape Arrest

Tragedy struck in Bayelsa State on Monday, when a 35-
year-old man who was attempting to escape being
arrested by the men of the Nigeria Police Force, jumped
into a river and drowned.
Leadership Friday understands that during a raid of the
hide-out of criminals in the Bebelebiri 2 community of
Yenagoa local government council, the man identified
as Chinelu Obasi, jumped into the community river in
order to evade arrest, but drowned in the process.
Also, one of the policemen, a member of the unit that
conducted the raid, was shot in the leg by his colleague
who was shooting indiscriminately, in order to scare
suspected customers of the notorious hang-out known
as ‘Cooler spot’.
LEADERSHIP Friday also gathered that the hang-out,
known for the sale of illicit substances, cannabis and
other hard drugs, was invaded by two units of armed
policemen from the area command of the Bayelsa State
Police Command.
According to a security source, the raid was approved
by the divisional police officer, based on an anonymous
tip-off. One of the policemen deployed for the mission
allegedly opened fire on sighting some group of boys at
the notorious hang-out.
While many of the suspected drug peddlers sought to
escape the stray bullets and subsequent arrests, Obasi,
who is allegedly a poor swimmer, opted to jump into
the river. He was found floating on the river a day
after, opposite the Federal Medical Centre (FMC)
Yenagoa.
Another police officer, who was unidentified, also
sustained a gun-shot wound, but was later taken to the
Glory Land Hospital in Yenagoa for treatment.
When LEADERSHIP Friday contacted the spokesperson
of the Bayelsa State Police Command, Alex Akhigbe, he
said he was yet to be “fully briefed” on the incident.