A police inspector attached to the 29 Police Mobile Force (PMF), Awka, was fatally shot during a stop-and-search duty at Uli, Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State, in what appears to be a mistaken identity incident involving operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).

Zagazola Makama gathered that the incident occurred on June 24 at about 5:50 p.m. along the Onitsha/Owerri Expressway, near Danaks Filling Station, Uli.

The sources said a team of mobile police officers deployed for highway patrol had flagged down an unmarked Toyota Sienna vehicle, which emerged from a nearby track road and was driving one-way against traffic. The suspicious movement prompted the officers to attempt a search.

Eyewitness accounts from fellow officers indicate that the occupants of the vehicle, dressed in black uniforms and reportedly armed with assault rifles, refused to comply, leading to an altercation. The occupants then opened fire on the police team, fatally wounding Inspector Bello Abdullahi in the lower rib.

The injured officer was rushed to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Ihiala, but was later referred to the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, where he was confirmed dead on arrival. His remains have since been deposited at the hospital morgue for autopsy and preservation.

The attackers, later identified as DSS operatives attached to the Ihiala Local Government Secretariat, fled the scene immediately after the incident.

The Department of State Services headquarters in Awka has been formally notified, and an investigation has been launched to determine the full circumstances surrounding the incident.

The tragic incident has sparked calls for improved inter-agency coordination to prevent similar occurrences in future. (Zagazola, excluding headline)