Unknown Gunmen Bomb Police Station, Kill 4 Officers, Free 2 Suspects In Oguta, Imo State

 

Unknown gunmen, yesterday, invaded the Agwa community in Oguta local government area of the state and  killed four police officers and bombed their station.

Separately, two persons were feared dead after the vehicle they were travelling in rammed into cows along Refinery Road in the Uvwie area of Delta State.

An eyewitness who spoke to some reporters on the Imo community attack said it came when people were still asleep.

Some community leaders, who did not want their names mentioned, said the attackers had issued threats to attack the Agwa police division for being opposition to their activities.

However, hours after the attack on the police station, an eyewitness said security officers in four security patrol vans stormed the neighbouring Izombe community, and attempted to arrest some suspects but were attacked by suspected criminals which resulted in the burning of cars and houses.

Confirming the incident, Imo State Police Command accused members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), armed group, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), of carrying out the attack.

The command’s State Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Micheal Abattam, while speaking to newsmen in Owerri, said the hoodlums killed four police officers and forced two suspects in custody to escape.

According to him, the hoodlums used a tipper truck to break the gate of the police station in order to gain entrance before they threw Improvised Explosives Devices (IEDS) and petrol bombs at the buildings that set ablaze vehicles and affected others.

“The police operatives of the division, joined by the Command’s Tactical Teams, gave the hoodlums a stiff resistance, engaging them in a gun duel. The hoodlums, who were fatally hit with a lot of casualties on their side, retreated, escaping in their vehicles”, Abattam said.

Reacting, President Muhammadu Buhari, last night, promised all  possible action in conducting a speedy investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Buhari urged community and religious leaders to speak more forcefully against  killings in Igboland, stand up and defend the ethos of our cultural and religious heritage.

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, quoted his principal as saying, “Those who know should point at specific people who did this.”

He expressed his administration’s unwavering commitment to peace and stability in the southeast and the entire country, saying that the reports of killings anywhere were sad and unwelcome.

He offered his condolences to the families of  law enforcement agents murdered and to the government and people of Niger Republic whose citizens were cruelly beheaded by attackers in another attack.

Meanwhile, two persons were feared dead yesterday morning after their car rammed into cows, at the Refinery Road in Uvwie, Delta State.

Other occupants of the vehicle were rushed to a nearby hospital.

It was gathered that the vehicle, a Toyota Camry, tumbled and landed on one end of the road.

It was not clear if the driver lost control of the vehicle before hitting the cows on the road or if the cows suddenly came on the road before the accident.