The Ebonyi State Police Command provided details on the unfortunate demise of Ayogu Evans, a 300-level student at Ebonyi State University, who tragically lost his life in an accident while being pursued by police officers on Saturday, December 2.
According to SP Onome Onovwakpoyeya, the spokesperson for the state police command, as outlined in a press release shared with our correspondent on Monday, the EBSU student accelerated away during a routine “stop and search” at a checkpoint along Nkaliki Road in Abakaliki, the state capital.
Tragically, Evans was involved in a severe car crash. Despite efforts by bystanders who rushed him to the hospital after the accident, he was pronounced dead a few hours later. Evans, a student in the Department of Sociology, met this unfortunate fate allegedly while being pursued by the police.
A source who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “The people who brought him to the hospital confirmed that he was being chased by the police when he suddenly had an accident and that the police officers that were chasing him ran away after he had the accident.
“They later came back to move his wrecked car to their station at Liberation Estate.”
But the police spokesman said the police officers who were after him did not run away and that the victim had been rushed to the hospital by good citizens before their men got there and they only towed his vehicle to the division’s station.
The statement read, “On December 2, 2023, around 12noon, police operatives on stop-and-search around Nkaliki Road sighted a vehicle that was approaching their checkpoint but suddenly reversed and sped off.
“The action of the driver (Evans) raised the suspicion of the police operatives which made them pursue the vehicle. The driver did not stop till he was involved in an accident along Oriuzor Road.
“Traffic officers were alerted and with the effort of good citizens, the victim, Ayogu Evans, a student of Ebonyi State University was conveyed to the hospital where he unfortunately gave up the ghost.
“The Commissioner of Police, Ebonyi State Command, CP Augustina Ogbodo, immediately addressed the student leaders and assured them that their concerns would be thoroughly investigated and anyone found culpable would be sanctioned accordingly.
“The commissioner of police is using this medium to encourage the citizens to support the police while they carry out their mandate and to report any unprofessional conduct of police officers on duty to the police authority while assuring the public that disciplinary actions will be taken against any erring police officer.”
