The outgoing Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, on Tuesday, asked his men to go after those who attacked the police headquarters and custodial centre in the state.
Gunmen had on Monday attacked the two federal institutions and released close to 2000 detained suspects.
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Adamu, who spoke on Tuesday after inspecting the extent of damage at the state’s police headquarters and the custodial centre, said that there will be no hiding place for the members of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
He insisted that IPOB members were responsible for the Imo jailbreak and the razing of the state police command.
Adamu, who urged officers to use their rifles against the IPOB members, said that: “We will go after them wherever they are hiding.
“Whether in their homes and forest, we are determined to fish them out.
“I have instructed my men to use maximum force with the guns available to us.
“We have the authority to defend the country, which they don’t have.
“We will not allow these criminals to succeed,” he added.
While addressing officers and men of the state police command, he encouraged them not to be disillusioned by what had happened but urged them to go after the hoodlums with all the power available to them.
Also speaking, Governor Hope Uzodimma, who condemned the attack on Imo State Police Command and custodial centre, said that the intention was to put fear in the people and make them vulnerable.
He assured Imo people that his government is doing everything possible to ensure that the dastardly incident never repeats itself.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has ordered the relocation of Owerri Recreational Club and other structures posing security threat to the premises of the Owerri Custodial centre.
This is even as he appealed to all prisoners that escaped from the centre to return on their own or face the consequences.
He said that those who voluntarily return would be given amnesty from the offence of jailbreak.
Aregbesola vowed that those who perpetrated the attack will be apprehended and prosecuted.
