TELL Magazine

Bullets are still lodged in the body of Sgt. Emehuru Onuchukwu, the policeman that survived the attack on Elimgbu police station, Port Harcourt by unknown gunmen two weeks ago.

Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Friday Eboka, who visited the policeman in hospital for the first time on Wednesday since the attack, said the police would take care of the treatment of the policeman.

The visit came after the family of the policeman had cried out about his abandonment at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, where he was rushed after he was shot by the gunmen. Seven policemen were killed in the attack.

But the police commissioner said they were not able to visit the wounded policeman because they were preoccupied with hunting down the gunmen, who he said have now been arrested.

“Now we have time to come and attend to our policemen who are in the hospital,” Eboka said.

He said while immediate care would be provided to Onuchukwu, the police has an insurance policy that covers policemen injured on active service.

The victim’s wife, Mrs Ngozi Onuchukwu, said she was relieved that the police authorities had finally shown up. But she wants the Rivers State Government to also come to their aide.

“Now that I have seen them, I am happy that my husband has people. It’s only his brother that has been taking care of him. It’s not easy without my husband with four children,” she said.

She added that the bullets shot at her husband were still lodged in his body. But she said it was her hope that now that the police authorities had come, they would roll him to the theatre to dislodge the bullets.

The Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Friday Aaron, said the wounded policeman was getting “the best of treatment,” but did not say why they had waited this long to remove bullets from his body.

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Woke, had last week given out N20 million to each of the families of the 11 policemen killed in recent attacks in the state.