The acting Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, on Wednesday, ordered an immediate clampdown on those behind the Tuesday killing of security operatives in Imo State in an ambush.
This is just as the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) advised the police to deploy more discreet intelligence tactics in order to apprehend the real culprits of the dastardly act.
Daily Trust had reported how gunmen killed eight security agents on Tuesday morning in the Umualumaku community, Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of the state.
Members of the Joint Security Task Force were said to be in two security trucks when they ran into an ambush and they were set ablaze by their attackers, with none of them surviving as they were burnt inside their operational vehicles.
Reacting to the development, the acting IGP through Force spokesman, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, explained that the force would collaboratively work with other security agencies to bring the perpetrators to book.
Adejobi, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, also disclosed that men of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) were also involved in the incident when they were responding to a distress call from the area.
He said the men “were diligently responding to a distress call from the area which turned out to be fake and targeted at luring them into the ambush.”
He urged the public to extend their cooperation to law enforcement agencies in the collective pursuit of peace and order in Imo State and other parts of the country.
He said Egbetokun equally mourned and extended prayers to the families of the fallen heroes, pledging that the sacrifices made by their loved ones would not be in vain.
Adejobi said anyone who may possess information related to this incident should assist in the investigative process and/or send in information anonymously through the NPF Social Media handles @PoliceNG, or through mail at [email protected].
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of RULAAC, Okechukwu Nwanguma advised the police to employ discreet intelligence in its bid to bring the culprits to justice, saying the perpetrators might have disappeared from the vicinity.
He cautioned security agencies against reprisal so that innocent residents won’t become victims.
“I advise caution and restraint. Discrete intelligence should be deployed to identify and apprehend the perpetrators and bring them to book,” Nwanguma advised.
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