By Abimbola Ogunnaike
The Imo State Police Command has announced the killing of two police officers attached to Mopol 18 by suspected gunmen along Gariki Road in Okigwe area of Imo State.
The State Police Public Relations Officer, Henry Okoye, announced the sad development in a statement issued to newsmen on Saturday, 23 March, 2024.
According to Okoye, the officers were ambushed in the early hours of Saturday, 23 March, 2024 while on patrol duty along old Gariki Road, Okigwe by hoodlums who threw dynamite on the officer’s patrol vehicle and engaged them in a protracted gunfight.
He added that in the process, two officers paid the ultimate price while four others survived the attack.
According to the police spokesman, on receiving report of the ugly incident, the Commissioner of Police Imo State Command, CP Aboki Danjuma, alongside Commander Mopol 18 and 64, immediately led operatives of the Command’s Special Tactical Unit to the crime scene for on-the-spot assessment.
He tasked the operatives to go all out in synergy with other security agencies and hunt down the hoodlums responsible for the attack.
The CP has also mandated the Assistant Commissioner of Police in Charge of Okigwe, the DPO, and other tactical units deployed in Okigwe to embark on visibility patrol, intelligence-led raids of criminal hideouts, and place watertight security to forestall any future occurrence.
While empathizing with the families, friends, and loved ones of the deceased officers, the Commissioner of Police reiterated in strong terms that the Command under his watch would not condone any form of attack on security personnel in the State.
He assured the people that the Command would leave no stone unturned in ensuring the perpetrators of this dastardly act are all arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law.