Police in Imo State on Sunday foiled an attack by armed men suspected to be members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)/ Eastern Security Network (ESN).
In a statement, police spokesperson, CSP Michael Abattam, said the militia wing of the IPOB came in their numbers from the rear of the Obowo Division, which is an ungoverned forest, threw petrol bombs and Improvised Explosive Devices(IED) that fell on the transit camp and a vehicle, shooting sporadically.
CSP Abattam further narrated that the police operatives of the division and some of the command’s tactical teams responded swiftly, engaging the gunmen in a fierce gun duel, preventing them from gaining entrance to the station and in the process forced the hoodlums into retreating.
According to the police spokesman, some of those who escaped back into the forest did so with various degrees of bullet wounds.
A hot chase ensued and while combing the bush, police operatives found the following items: three (3) undetonated explosives, four (4) expended AK-47 rifle ammunition, five (5) live cartridges, thirty-three (33) expended cartridges, two masks, one pump action gun, and a motor saw machine.
Meanwhile, apart from the minimal damage on the transit camp and a vehicle, no life was lost. “One police operative who sustained minor gunshot injury has been treated,” CSP Abattam revealed.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operation/Acting Commissioner of Police, Imo Command, DCP MAMAN B. GIWA, who visited the station for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation, commended the officers and men for their gallantry.
He urged them not to relent in their efforts in combating violent crimes in the state until all criminal elements and their partners are apprehended and made to face the full wrath of the law.
DCP Giwa also appealed to Imolites, asking that the people continue to support and collaborate by giving security agencies, especially the police, credible and timely information and to report any person seen treating bullet wounds or hiding within the community to the nearest police station for prompt action.
