A clash between gun-wielding men suspected to be operatives of the Anambra State Anti-touts Agency and protesting youths in Onitsha, Anambra State, resulted in chaos along the Onitsha-Owerri Road on Thursday.

According to the PUNCH, a stray bullet from the clash claimed the life of a young man identified as Chimezie from Achina, Aguata Local Government Area.

Chimezie, who had just completed his National Youth Service Corps, was standing on the balcony of his residence near Okpoko Police Station in Ogbaru Local Government Area when the stray bullet struck him.

The clash ensued when irate youths, protesting against alleged arrests, intimidation, and harassment by the anti-tout squad, marched from the Metallurgical Training Institute to the Amanato area of the Onitsha-Owerri Road.

The anti-tout operatives attempted to disperse the protesters by opening fire.

In the chaos that followed, residents and traders scrambled for safety, resulting in injuries to some individuals. Unfortunately, Chimezie was fatally hit by the stray bullet.

According to an anonymous source, “It was during the protest that the operatives emerged from nowhere and started shooting sporadically in the air apparently to scare the protesters away, but in the process, the residents and traders whose movements for their commercial and business activities was at its peak, started running for their safety, with some sustaining injuries in the process. In the process, a bullet hit a young man standing at his balcony.”

Ozoemenam, a trader, explained, “It was in the process of the sporadic shooting in the air that the deceased victim, who was discussing on the balcony of their flat, sustained gunshot injuries apparently from a stray bullet and died instantly.”

Officers from Okpoko Police Station were called to the scene to evacuate Chimezie’s corpse, depositing it at the mortuary.

A senior police officer confirmed the death, stating that the protest arose from the youths’ grievances regarding arrests, detentions, and intimidation by the anti-tout operatives in various areas.

The police officer commented, “You know that these anti-tout squad members were not trained in handling arms, so they must have shot unprofessionally before the bullet hit that young man.”

Efforts to reach the state Police Public Relations Officer, Ikenga Tochukwu, were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.