One person believed to be an armed, Eastern Security Network-affiliated member of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) was killed by hoodlums after the Imo State Police Command successfully repelled their onslaught (ESN).
The police spokesman, CSP Michael Abattam, said in a statement released on Friday in Owerri that the repel attack on the hoodlums was carried out in accordance with the directive, intelligence-led stop and search points that were established at strategic locations inside the three senatorial zones in the State to checkmate the activities of hoodlums.
In order to ensure the eradication of all criminal elements in the State for a crime-free holiday season, Imo State Command Commissioner of Police CP Mohammed Ahmed Barde mandated officers and men to control the entire security space in the State, according to CSP Abattam.
The PPRO claims that a six-man terror gang of hoodlums who arrived in a sienna car with the license plate ABUJA-GWA 932 CQ and attacked police officers while they were on duty at the UBA Roundabout in Orlu, Imo State, were unsuccessful in their attack.
He claimed that the well-prepared thugs opened fire on the police officers intermittently, but the gallant officers responded quickly and assumed their positions skillfully.
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According to Abattam, during the ensuing gun battle, the police outgunned the criminals and as a result, one of the criminals was neutralized while the others fled into the nearby bushes with fatal bullet wounds, abandoning their sienna car, one AK-47 rifle with fifteen (15) rounds of live ammunition, two (2) English-made Pump Action guns with ten (10) rounds of live ammunition, and various charms.
He claimed that the police had taken all of the abandoned belongings back to the station, while the body had been taken away from the location and placed at a nearby morgue.
The sienna car used by the terror gang was taken from its owner in Amurie Omanze in the Isu Local Government Area of Imo State and it was reported at Njaba Police Station, according to the police spokesman.
While the Command’s Tactical Teams work zealously to apprehend the eluding criminals, he claimed that the owner of the vehicle had been called and asked to provide proof of ownership in order for his vehicle to be collected.
While praising the officers and men for their bravery, Imo State Command Commissioner of Police CP Mohammed Ahmed Barde praised the Imolites for their ongoing support and assured them of the Command’s efforts to eradicate crime and criminality in the State to ensure a crime-free holiday season.
He warned them to be aware of people in their neighborhoods and to call the police immediately if they saw someone with a gunshot wound or treating one.