Gunmen have killed a pharmacist in Imo State, south-east Nigeria.
The victim, Henry Ogbuji, was killed on Friday evening by gunmen who abducted his elder brother in the state.
The incident happened in Irete, a community in Owerri West Local Government Area of the state.
How it happened
Sources told PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday night that Mr Ogbuji got back home from work and was told that the abductors just left with his elder brother, Sunny Ogbuji.
Enraged, the deceased pursued the hoodlums and encountered them at a junction where the abductors shot him in the chest and he died instantly.
The slain pharmacist owned a pharmacy shop in Owerri, the state capital.
Some residents blamed the victim for going after armed hoodlums.
The police spokesperson in Imo State, Henry Okoye, confirmed the development in a statement on Saturday night.
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Mr Okoye, an assistant superintendent of police, said the divisional police officer in charge of Ogbaku in Mbaitoli Local Government Area in the state mobilised some police operatives to the area upon receipt of a distress call.
The police spokesperson said, that on arrival at the scene, the operatives found Mr Ogbuji laying “on the ground in a pool of his blood with severe bullet” injuries on his chest.
“The operatives immediately rushed him to Federal Medical Center, Owerri where he was confirmed dead and thereafter (the corpse) deposited at the morgue for preservation,” he said.
He said the police in the state are investigating the incident to track down the killers.
“Accordingly, adequate security measures have been emplaced to forestall future occurrences.”
Meanwhile, some residents told PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday that the abducted victim escaped from the abductors while they were shooting at his brother.
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