Suspected gunmen on Sunday attacked the Divisional Police
Headquarters in Igumale in Ado Local Government Area of Benue State,
killing two police officers and injuring four others.
Another set of bandits also invaded a police station in Imo State and killed an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP).
In the two incidents, the gunmen carted away weapons from the affected police stations.
In the Benue incident, the gunmen reportedly invaded the police station
on motorcycles and shot sporadically at the five officers on duty. One
of the policemen, The AUTHORITY learnt, was killed on the spot while
the others died on Sunday morning in an undisclosed hospital. The
injured, sources said, are lying critically ill in the hospital from
gunshot wounds inflicted on them by the bandits.
One of the slain police officers hailed from Agatu in Benue State
while the second was an indigene of one of the core northern states,
sources said.
The gunmen reportedly carted away guns and ammunition belonging to the station.
A police source told The AUTHORITY on condition of anonymity that the
weapons may have been the primary target of the hoodlums.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Benue State Command, ASP Moses
Yamu, confirmed that two officers lost their lives in the attack while
four others were receiving treatment in the hospital.
He said that some weapons were carried away by the attackers, adding
that the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Bashir Makama, has visited the
scene and assured the residents of their safety.
The commissioner, Yamu said, promised to bring the perpetrators of the
act to justice and condoled with the families of the deceased and the
injured officers.
In the Imo State incident, the Mbieri Division of the Nigeria Police
in Mbaitoli Local Government Area was invaded by the bandits, who
killed the ASP.
Sources told The AUTHORITY that the slain officer, whose identity was
yet to be disclosed by the police authorities, was shot dead by the
gunmen who stormed the station at the weekend.
It was further gathered that the hoodlums arrived in the station in the
evening wielding guns, shot the ASP who was on duty and fled the
scene.
Sources said the attack may have been triggered by the arrest of a
member of the gang which prompted others to storm the station and steal
some weapons.
The AUTHORITY learnt that the late ASP lost his life while struggling
to safeguard his rifle from the gunmen, an action that allegedly angered
the hoodlums who shot him. He reportedly died on the spot.
The Imo State Police Command spokesman, Mr Andrew Enwerem, confirmed the incident but said it was a case of armed robbery.
According to him, the slain policeman was killed after he had closed from work and was about leaving for his home.
Enwerem disclosed that the state Commissioner of Police, Taiwo Lakanu,
has ordered an investigation into the matter and denied that rifles
were stolen by the invaders.
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