The acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu has ordered the immediate arrest and prosecution of all persons involved in the attack on Police officers, who were on a mission to arrest some suspected armed robbers and receivers of a stolen vehicle in a community in Cross River State.
The spokesman of the Police, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Frank Mba, in a statement on Tuesday, said the attack which occurred on the 17th April, at Ogoja Community, was masterminded and executed by one Ikenga, a receiver of stolen property, and his gang members.
He said four Police officers attached to IGP Intelligence Response Team (IRT) unit was seriously wounded, with deep machete cuts on their heads and other parts of their bodies.
He said the detectives (the victims of the savage attack) were investigating a case of a stolen Toyota Sienna Bus earlier reported by the Master Chapel Church, a Pentecostal church based in Lagos.
The arrests
He said the detectives had, after a painstaking investigation, arrested four male suspects – Peter, Ben, Ebuka and Johnson.
Mba said the suspects, who were implicated in the crime by the police investigation, confessed to indeed stealing the vehicle.
He said they stated further that they had sold the vehicle to another criminal in Benue State. Hence, detectives moved to Benue State with one of the suspects.
He explained that on the arrest of the suspect in Benue State, he stated that he had sold the vehicle to another notorious receiver of stolen goods based in Ogoja for a sum of #250, 000.
The Police said, with this discovery, the detectives proceeded to Cross River State, where the receiver Ikenga was apprehended and the stolen vehicle recovered.
Mba noted that, “in a bizarre twist, shortly after his arrest, the suspect raised an alarm in his native language which attracted his gang members.”
He said subsequently, the policemen came under serious physical attack from the weapon-wielding hoodlums.
He said, “the officers were savagely butchered by these armed gangs. Consequently, Ikenga, the notorious crook escaped with the stolen vehicle.”
Mba said the IGP enjoined traditional rulers and community leaders not to allow such attacks to take place in their domain as they may be called to account.
He said the IGP had ordered for the immediate manhunt and the arrest of Mr IKenga and other members of his gang.
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