Four killed as security operatives, hoodlums engage in 15-hour shootout

Combined security operatives in Anambra State have killed four armed hoodlums during a shootout at a criminal camp in the state.

The police spokesperson in Anambra State, Tochukwu Ikenga, in a statement on Friday, said the hoodlums were killed on 21 August when the combined operatives raided their camp.

Mr Ikenga, a superintendent of police, said police operatives attached to the Rapid Response Squad in Awkuzu conducted the operation in collaboration with Agunechemba Vigilante Group.

The police spokesperson said the hoodlums were members of an unnamed separatist group and that their camp was in Awa, a community in Orumba North Local Government Area of the state.

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“During the well-coordinated operation that lasted for more than 15 hours, the operatives successfully dislodged the insurgents, rescued a victim who had earlier been kidnapped and held hostage in the camp,” he said.

“In the fierce gun battle that ensued, four of the criminal elements were neutralised.”

Mr Ikenga said that before the kidnapped victim was rescued by the operatives, the hoodlums had refused to release the victim despite receiving a payment of N20 million from the family.

Several items, such as arms and ammunition, were recovered from the suspects during the operation, according to the police.

Some of the items, aside from arms and ammunition, included two empty gas cylinders, two rolls of cable wires, three bags of 50 kg rice, a driver’s licence, a National Identity Card, a black Lexus RX 350 SUV and four Toyota Camry cars.

Five Android mobile phones, three analogue phones, sleeping materials, a pair of desert boots, a big cooler, and a roll of tarpaulin were recovered during the operation.

Commissioner speaks

Mr Ikenga said the Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Ikioye Orutugu, has assured residents of Anambra State that the police in the state are committed to ensuring their safety and security.

Mr Orutugu also said “extensive operations” were ongoing in the area to track down the other fleeing suspects and to destroy other criminal camps in the state.

Increased attacks

Like other states in Nigeria’s South-east, security has deteriorated in Anambra State with frequent attacks by armed persons.

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The attacks often target security agencies, government officials and facilities.

Hundreds of people have been killed or abducted, and several others injured in some of such attacks in the region.

The Nigerian government has repeatedly accused the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the region, but the separatist group has repeatedly denied its involvement in the attacks.

IPOB is leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra, which it wants to be carved out from the South-east and some parts of South-south Nigeria.