Unknown gunmen reportedly killed two police officers along old Gariki Road, Okigwe Council Area of Imo State, on Saturday, News About Nigeria reports.
This was disclosed in a statement by the State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Henry Okoye.
He noted that the gunmen are suspected to be members of the Eastern Security Network, (ESN), an armed group of the Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB).
He stated that the gunmen threw dynamite at the officers while on security patrol, killing two of them and leaving four other officers with injuries.
This, he noted, was after the officers engaged in an exchange of gunfire with the attackers.
He, however, noted that upon learning of the ugly incident, the Imo State Commissioner of Police, CP Aboki Danjuma, alongside Commander Mopol 18 and 64, immediately led operatives of the command’s Special Tactical Unit to the crime scene for on-the-spot assessment and tasked the operatives to go all out in synergy with other security agencies and hunt down the hoodlums responsible for the attack.
He further noted that the officers in the Command, have been tasked with embarking on visibility patrol, intelligence-led raids of criminal hideouts, and placing watertight security to prevent any future occurrence.
“The Commissioner of Police Imo State Command, CP Aboki Danjuma has condemned the attack and gruesome murder of personnel of Mopol 18, Owerri, by gunmen suspected to be members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed affiliate Eastern Security Network (ESN).
“The officers were ambushed in the early hours of today, 23/03/2024 while on patrol duties along old Gariki Road Okigwe by the disgruntled elements who threw dynamite on the officer’s patrol vehicle and engaged them in a protracted gunfight. In the process, two officers paid the ultimate price while four others survived the attack,” he stated.
