Assistant Commissioner of Police slumps, dies during meeting

An Assistant Commissioner of Police, Ogbon-Inu Taiwo Popoola, has died after collapsing at the Ebonyi State Police Command headquarters in Abakaliki.

A police source disclosed that the senior officer slumped around 11 a.m. on Tuesday while attending a management meeting at the command headquarters.

Popoola, who until his death was in charge of the State Intelligence Department, was said to have suddenly experienced breathing difficulties during the meeting and began gasping for air.

“He was immediately rushed to the Police Medical Centre at the Police Headquarters in Abakaliki, where he was promptly attended to by medical personnel,” the source said.

Despite efforts by doctors to revive him, he was later confirmed dead.

Preliminary medical reports indicated that the cause of death was cardiac arrest linked to hypertensive heart disease.

It was further gathered that his remains have been deposited at the morgue of the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital in Abakaliki.

Confirming the incident in a telephone interview on Thursday, the Ebonyi State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Joshua Ukandu, said the officer collapsed during the meeting and did not survive.

He said, “Yes, one of them had a crisis during a meeting and was rushed to the hospital. Unfortunately, he didn’t survive.

“He was not sick before the incident. If he were sick, he wouldn’t have attended the meeting.”

Ukandu described the late Popoola as a committed and professional officer who served the Nigeria Police Force diligently.

(PUNCH)