The Inspector, until his death was attached to Operations Department of the Command in Calabar.
DAILY POST reports that the control room of the command got a distress call about the armed robbery operations along Otop Abasi Street and moved in immediately.
However, an eyewitness who gave his name as Goodnews Etim said the victim (Policeman) was coming back from work and wasn’t in the team that was chasing the robbers when he was shot at Otop Abasi Street. He died on the spot.
“After shooting the Policeman to death, the suspects escaped. The Policeman was not part of the team that chased them, they were thinking the victim was one of those police officers who were after them,” he stated.
When DAILY POST contacted the Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO), Ms Irene Ugbo, she confirmed the story. She said, “Our men in the control room got a distress call that there were armed robbery operations at Otop Abasi in Calabar Municipal government of Cross River State and its environments.
“They moved in with a view to capturing them but Police Inspector Ebri Ogban who was coming back from work, without knowing what was happening was shot by the robbers twice and he died on the spot,” she added. She said the suspects thought that the Inspector was in the team that was chasing them.
“This policeman did not know anything about the incident and he was just going on his own with uniform and when those armed robbers saw him, they thought he was among those who were chasing them. They opened fire on him twice and he died on the spot,” he said.
The PPRO said nobody has been arrested but investigations were ongoing.
