The Commissioner of Police, CP Akeem Yusuf, has said a group of hoodlums on Thursday opened fire on the joint security team who were on an operation at Ejule in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State.
He said this Thursday during a press conference at the police headquarters, Lokoja.
The police boss said the joint security team were on the trail of a criminal gang leader called Kabir Bala who had been terrorising the areas with his group of hooligans when the security operatives came under attack.
He said the gang leader, Kabir Bala (Okwo), was neutralised during the exchange of fire while many of his gang members escaped with varying degrees of injury.
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He said the decision to carry out the joint operation against Bala was taken at a state security meeting on June 20th, 2023 due to the upsurge of criminal activities in the state.
He said items recovered by the joint operation team from the house of the gang leader include one AK 47 Rifle with three fully loaded magazines; six locally fabricated weapons, two phones and charms.
He added that the state government had on October 2018 granted pardon to rehabilitate Bala.
“However, the said Kabir Bala remained an unrepentant criminal with lots of atrocities traced to him, which include dealing in illegal arms, kidnapping and killings in the state,” CP Yusuf said.
Reports from the area said an ‘okada’ rider, identified as Azeez and a 24-year-old housewife, Atima Abdullahi, were killed by stray bullets in the process.
Also, a family house in the town was reported to have been burnt to ashes by the invading gunmen in the process.
Among others, the criminal gang’s leader was charged for “the burning alive of Mrs Salome Abuh, a PDP woman leader in Ofu LGA, in her residence on November 18th, 2019; attack on troops of Nigerian Navy and dispossessed them of four rifles at Aloma village on March 4th, 2022; killing of two Igala youths, Umoru Areh and Unekwu Sule, on April 20th, 2022 at Ejule and killing of five Fulani
herders along Aloma road at Imoko in Ofu Local Government Area of the state.
