Gunmen attack police team, kill two officers

Two police operatives were killed on Thursday in Enugu State when gunmen attacked a police team in the South-eastern state.

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The incident, PREMIUM TIMES gathered, occurred at about 9 p.m. along Agbani Road in Enugu South Local Government Area of the state.

The attack happened just opposite a police college and a few miles to the Force Criminal Investigation Department in Enugu.

This newspaper gathered that the police team attacked by the hoodlums was the Distress Response Squad, which was set up to check insecurity in the state.

A vehicle belonging to the police team was razed by the hoodlums during the attack, witnesses said.

A video clip, recorded shortly after the attack and obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, showed the vehicle in flames.

Police speak

The police spokesperson in Enugu State, Daniel Ndukwe, confirmed the attack and killing of the officers in a statement on Friday.

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Mr Ndukwe, a superintendent of police, claimed suspected members of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) carried out the attack.

“The criminals suddenly opened fire on the police team without provocation. The operatives responded promptly, forcing the assailants to flee with varying degrees of gunshot injuries.

“During the exchange of gunfire, the team’s operational vehicle caught fire, while two police officers sustained severe gunshot injuries,” he said.

“The injured officers were taken to the hospital for urgent medical attention but were later confirmed dead by the attending medical personnel.”

Mr Ndukwe did not, however, did not give the identities of the slain operatives.

The spokesperson said the Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, Bitrus Giwa, has ordered police operatives to deploy “available resources and leverage actionable intelligence” to track down the attackers.

Mr Giwa, he said, confirmed that a Lexus 330 SUV, earlier snatched from its owner by the hoodlums and used for the attack, has been recovered by the police.

The police chief appealed to Enugu State residents to provide “credible information” that would aid the arrest and prosecution of the hoodlums.

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He assured that the police in the state would be resolute and committed to arresting and prosecuting the criminals in line with the law.

IPOB, which is seeking the secession of South-east and some parts of the South-south from Nigeria, is often blamed for the insecurity in the South-east, but it has repeatedly denied its involvement in the deadly attacks in the region.