Anambra Police Command’s Public Relation Officer (PPRO), DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, said the command is on the lookout for insurgents who attacked its Divisional office early Sunday February 19.
Ikenga stated that at 5.58 a.m., police officers assigned to the 33rd Police Divisional Headquarters in Nkwelle-Ezunaka, Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra foiled an attack on the police facility by IPOB/ESN insurgents.
In a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka on Sunday, Ikenga said the command Operatives neutralised six insurgents and recovered two Ak47 rifles, one Toyota Sienna vehicle with registration number Abuja ABC 848 EQ, charms, and other incriminating items.
He claimed that members of the outlawed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB)/Eastern Security Network (ESN) arrived in large numbers, armed with guns, IEDs, and petrol bombs, and shot indiscriminately to gain access to the station.
Ikenga disclosed that the insurgents were fiercely engaged and resisted by the Divisional Police Officer and his men in a long gun battle before the prompt reinforcement team, made up of the Military and PMF Operatives arrived at the scene.
The statement said that during the gun duel, unfortunately, one police operative attached to the station was fatally wounded and an office in the facility was partially affected by the petrol bomb the insurgents threw inside the station.
He also said that one patrol vehicle parked in front of the station was set ablaze by the gunmen.
However, he said that some of the insurgents who escaped with gunshot injuries are being hunted by the police.
He advised the public and hospital managements in the state to report to the nearest police station any patient with gunshot wounds.
Ikenga said that the Command is on top of the situation and that the situation is still being assessed.
He said that the Joint operations are still ongoing to track down the fleeing insurgents. (NAN)