An Inspector of Police who was found drunk to stupor at his duty post has committed suicide in a cell where he was detained at the headquarters of the Delta State police command in Asaba, the state capital.
Inspector Victor Efeakpor with AP/No. 179391 was attached to the police Area Commander’s office in Ughelli, Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, but drafted for special duty at Asaba, where the incident occurred.
It was learnt that on Sunday, April 10, Labaran Mohammed, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, DSP, of the Patrol and Guard unit of the Department of Operations at the police command headquarters was visiting various police beats when he found Inspector Efeakpor drunk to stupor early in the morning at the Court of Appeal, Asaba, where he was posted.
Reports said Efeakpor lay at his duty post heavily drunk without his Service rifle, an AK47 with Breech number 14520 with 25 rounds of ammunition which he had booked from the armoury. He allegedly could not explain the whereabouts of the weapons when queried by the visiting superior officer who promptly reported to the authorities.
Security sources told Scudnews that following the report, Johnson Adenola, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP, in charge of the Department of Operations, swiftly moved to Efeakpor’s duty post in company with other senior officers for an intensive but unsuccessful search for the weapon assigned to him.
Consequently, the drunken police Inspector was reportedly arrested and detained in a cell at the state command headquarters for further investigation. Seven other policemen were also said to be detained in the cell when Efeakpor was taken into custody.
However, sources said the unexpected happened in the wee hours of the night when his fellow detainees raised the alarm at about 1.am on Monday, April 11, that Efeakpor had committed suicide while they were all asleep.
The police Inspector had allegedly used the string of his boxer shorts to commit the crime as his lifeless body hung close to the ventilation in the cell.
A team of senior police officers which visited the scene following the alarm on the incident reportedly evacuated his body to the morgue at the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Asaba, for autopsy.
Efforts made at reaching the spokesperson for the State Police Command, DSP Bright Edafe, were unsuccessful, but a senior police officer who confirmed the incident on condition of anonymity, said an investigation is ongoing.
