Imo State Police Command said that it killed six members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) who were on their way to attack the palace of the Imo State Chairman, Council Of Traditional Rulers, His Royal Highness Eze Dr E. C Okeke.
The police, in a statement signed by the spokesman in the state, CSP Michael Abatham, said that the hoodlums were sighted at about 8am on Monday at Orlu in three Hilux vehicles shooting sporadically, and fiercely advancing to unleash terror on their target.
- ASUU: UNIBEN students ground activities at federal secretariat in Edo
- Blasphemy: Police arrest 3 during protest in Maiduguri
Abattam said that on receipt of the information, the command’s tactical team joined by the military immediately mobilised and rushed to the palace.
The statement said, “On their way, the hoodlums on sighting the combined team engaged them in a gun duel, throwing petrol bombs. The gallant team responded, positioning themselves professionally.
“In the exchange of gunfire that ensued, the hoodlums were overwhelmed due to the superior fire-power of the combined team and in the process six of the hoodlums were neutralized while others escaped with various degrees of gunshot injuries.
“The combined team did not relent in their effort, they chased the hoodlums recovering one pump action gun, three blood stained cutlasses and three Hilux vehicles suspected to have been snatched from innocent citizens.
“However, calm has been restored in the area and the corpses of the neutralized bandits removed and deposited in the mortuary. On the side of the combined team, no life was lost apart from one of the police vehicles that got burnt due to the fire that ignited it from the petrol bomb,” the statement added.