Gunmen on Tuesday morning shot two police officers on duty in Akabo, Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State.
Eyewitness reports said the fleeing gunmen also shot a passer-by at a checkpoint in Ama-John junction, Akabo, which is along Owerri-Okigwe-Enugu road.
PUNCH Metro gathered from eyewitness reports that the gunmen who attacked in the early hours of Tuesday took the officers on duty by surprise.
An eyewitness to the incident said, “There was panic this morning some minutes after 6:am within Akabo (Ama-John) axis along Owerri-Okigwe-Enugu road as a group of gunmen killed two Policemen on duty and a passerby. The armed men drove on the Sienna bus, and they zoomed off after shooting the police officers.”
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The Imo State Police Command’s Spokesperson, ASP Henry Okoye, who confirmed the incident, said, “The Commissioner of Police Imo State Command, CP Aboki Danjuma, has deployed the Command’s Special Tactical Squad and equipped them with the available operational resources and intelligence to go all out in synergy with other security agencies and clamp down on the hoodlums responsible for the unprovoked and unwarranted attack and killing of Police Mobile operatives conducting stop-and-search at Akabo in Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State.”
The tragic incident was perpetrated In the early hours of Tuesday by hoodlums suspected to be members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed affiliate Eastern Security Network (ESN) who attacked the operatives in their numbers firing sporadically. The operatives fought gallantly but unfortunately, two personnel and a civilian were fatally hit”.
In the wake of the tragic incident, the Commissioner of Police Imo State Command, CP Aboki Danjuma alongside the DC Operations led Police Operatives to the scene of the crime for on-the-spot assessment of the incident. Intense operation is ongoing in the area for possible apprehension and prosecution of the fleeing hoodlums responsible for the senseless act of violence.”
The Commissioner of Police has set up a high-powered investigation team and tasked them to carry out a comprehensive investigation to unravel the perpetrators of the attack.”
He also said, “The lifeless bodies of the affected officers and a civilian have been recovered and deposited in a mortuary for preservation.”
(PUNCH)