Nigerian storms Abidjan police station with cutlass, chases policemen away

A Nigerian suspected to be mentally deranged, Bethel Chima, has been shot in the legs after running amok with a cutlass inside a police station in Port-Bouet Abidjan.

Chima, who is in his 30s is said to have been living in Abidjan for the past eight years.

Some Nigerians residing in Port-Bouet said that Chima started behaving abnormally about three years ago.

A police source said that Chima stormed the police station on Sept. 11 with a cutlass and chased policemen away from their duty posts.

The source further disclosed that the Nigerian had in the process dispossessed one of the policemen on duty of his riffle and began firing without aiming.

The source said that it took the swift intervention of an Anti-robbery team to bring the situation under control.

“He got shot in the legs in the process of handling the situation after he had succeeded in chasing almost everybody out of the station,’’ the source said.

Speaking at the Central University Hospital (CHU) Cocody, Abidjan, where he is currently receiving treatment, Chima said that the police was aware of his reason for attacking the station.

Chima, a Nigerian from Imo, who sounded quite incoherently, accused the Ivorian police of using his name to play politics and making so much money in return.

“Two years ago, they burnt my house and everything I have acquired, they know why I came to attack the station, you can ask them, they know,’’ he said.

The Consular Officer of the Nigerian Embassy in Cote d’Ivoire, Mr Obinna Ogbonna, who has also visited Chima, said the mission would follow the matter according to the law.

“The man is a Nigerian, we will follow the matter up to ensure that his rights are protected and that the matter is handled according to the law,’’ he said.

He called on Nigerians in the country to exhibit discipline and show respect to the laws of the host country.

“Our attitudes must promote respect and enhance the way people see us as a people, I have always said that we have to be good ambassadors of our country,’’ he said. (NAN)