The police in Enugu State said they have launched a manhunt for gunmen who killed three officers at a checkpoint, Saturday, in Agbani, a community in Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria’s South-east.
The police spokesperson in the state, Daniel Ndukwe, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.
PREMIUM TIMES reported how the gunmen stormed the checkpoint and opened fire on the police officers on duty, killing three of them at the spot.
Mr Ndukwe, a deputy superintendent of police, said the armed hoodlums, numbering about 15, were suspected members of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
He said the suspected IPOB members stormed the checkpoint in a Lexus SUV and Toyota Tundra pickup truck.
“Preliminary investigation suggests that the same hoodlums are responsible for the attack and shooting in the thigh of a filling station manager, kidnapping of a male victim and snatching of another’s vehicle at different times, within the Ibagwa-Nike and Alulu-Nike Axis of Enugu East Local Government Area on 17 and 18 November,” he said.
Commissioner’s visit
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Ahmed Ammani, visited the community, hours after the attack, Mr Ndukwe said.
The commissioner’s visit, amongst other things, was to enable him “assess and re-strategise” to tackle the criminals and their activities, the police said.
The killing of the officers came about 24 hours after gunmen killed a former Commissioner for Rural Development in the state, Gab Onuzulike, and his brother in Nkpokolo-Achi, a community in Oji-River Council Area of the state.
The police spokesperson said the police commissioner also visited the community where Mr Onuzulike and his brother were killed.
Mr Ammani vowed that the police will “never be deterred” in their quest to rid the state of criminals.
The police commissioner said he has ordered “maximum deployment of all the operational and intelligence resources” of the police to track down criminals terrorising the state.
He urged residents to remain law-abiding and to support the police with “credible information” to fight crimes in the state.
Increased attacks
Enugu, like other states in Nigeria’s South-east, has witnessed an increase in deadly attacks lately.
The attacks, mostly targeted at security officials and government facilities, have been attributed to the IPOB which is agitating for a sovereign state for the Igbo-speaking people in the South-east.
But the group has repeatedly denied involvement in the attacks.
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