Police repel IPOB militia in Imo

The Police in Imo State revealed that the force repelled armed men suspected to be members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)/Eastern Security Network (ESN) on Sunday who plotted to attack a police division.

The Police Public Relations Officer of the Imo State Command, CSP Michael Abattam, in a statement, narrated that the IPOB militia approached the target in large numbers from the rear of the Obowo Division, an ungoverned forest, threw petrol bombs and Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) at the station, he said that they, however, fell on the transit camp and operated with a vehicle, shooting sporadically.

CSP Abattam also disclosed that the police operatives of the division and some of the command’s tactical teams responded swiftly, engaging the gunmen in a fierce exchange of gunfire, which restrained them from gaining entrance to the police station; compelling the hoodlums to retreat.

The PPRO disclosed that some of the fleeing gunmen escaped back to the forest with various degrees of bullet injuries.

In an immediate manhunt and combing of the bush, the police found the following items: three (3) undetonated explosives, four (4) expended AK-47 rifle ammunition, five (5) live cartridges, 33 expended cartridges, two masks, one pump action gun, and a motor saw machine, the PPRO said.

CSP Abattam acknowledged that “One police operative sustained minor gunshot injury and has been treated,” noting that apart from the minimal damage on the transit camp and a vehicle, no life was lost.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operation/Acting Commissioner of Police, Imo Command, DCP Maman B. Giwa, visited the station for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation, and commended the officers and men for their gallantry.

The DCP encouraged the officers to sustain 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.