…After attacks on INEC State Office in Owerri
The Independent National Electoral commission (INEC) Owerri headquarters was attacked at the early hours of Monday at about 3am.
News Echo gathered that gunmen numbering over 30 invaded the commission’s head office along port-Harcourt Road, New Owerri, shooting sporadically and threw improvised explosives into the office premises from a patrol station that share same fence with the commission.
The policemen on duty engaged the bandits in a gun duel and the hoodlums were overwhelmed by the police operatives and flew for safety whereas the police gave them a hot chase towards Onitsha road.
According to a report by the Imo State Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Mike Abattam, the police engaged them in a fiercer gun duel at Ogbaku and in the process, three of the gunmen were killed and two others arrested with bullet injuries while others fled to the neighbouring communities with several bullet injuries
According to the police,
“On searching the scene and the abandoned vehicles, the following items were recovered: three AK-47 rifles, four Pump action guns, three (3) Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), Four (4) locally made bombs, One (1) axe, Three (3) vehicles, various types of charms, One (1) Red Beret, Five (5) native caps, Three (3) phones of different makes, Two (2) Walkie Talkie, Three (3) ATM cards, Eight (8) cartridges, One (1) A.A ammunition and Two (2) bunch of keys”
Also two offices at INEC were affected by the explosives and petrol bomb; however the main building remains intact as stated by the police.
The corpses of the killed hoodlums and two police operatives who paid the supreme price, were evacuated and deposited at the Federal Medical Centre Owerri and another operative who sustained bullet wound on his leg was rushed to the hospital for treatment and is in a stable condition.
However, the police is making efforts to arrest the fleeing suspects since they cannot go far, due to the various degrees of injuries they sustained in the gun battle.
The Commissioner of Police, Imo Command, CP Mohammed Ahmed Barde, psc(+), commended the men of the police for their efforts while sympathizing with the families of the deceased officers and enjoined the good people of the State not to relent in collaborating with security agencies especially in giving credible and timely information to the Police.
The commissioner further, appealed to Imolites to report suspicious activities or any person or persons seen treating bullet wounds within their communities to the nearest police station or call the Command’s emergency numbers
