The minute step between life and death was once again emphasised on Tuesday in Asaba, capital of Delta State, when a Nollywood actor, Clem Onyeka, was killed in a gun battle between operatives of the Delta State Police Command and daredevil armed robbers who attempted to hijack a bullion van.
Onyeka was only at the wrong place at the wrong time.
According to eye-witnesses, the deceased was driving in his car along DSB Road, when he got caught between the fire power of the police trying to resist men of the underworld who were bent on making a way with the content of a bullion van coming from Awka in Anambra State, heading towards the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), located on Mariam Babagida Way.
“A stray bullet found its way into the actor’s car and hit him on the head, killing him immediately,” an eyewitness said.
“The robbers shot continuously at the bullion van but the driver succeeded in escaping with the content of the van intact. Several persons were caught in the cross-fire and they got injured.”
The robbers escaped through the Benin-Onitsha expressway in a Toyota Camry, witnesses said.
Public Relations Officer Delta State Police Command, DSP Celestina Kalu, confirmed the incident, saying the command has already put mechanism to track down the criminals in place.
Meanwhile, operatives of the Nigerian Army decided to teach workers of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Asaba, where the victims of the gun duel were rushed to for treatment, a lesson in handling emergency.
Vexed by the near nonchalant attitude of the medical workers on duty in attending to the victims, the soldiers commandeered the medical works to work by whipping them with horsewhip.
“Soldiers flogged them before they started attending to the robbery victims who were rushed here (FMC) for treatment,” an eyewitness at the hospital said.
Onyeka’s body has been deposited to the mortuary where Nollywood actors and actresses have been flocking in solidarity.
