The Enugu State Police Command said on Friday that three operatives of the Eastern Security Network of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra were killed in the Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of the state.
The command’s spokesperson, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, in a statement in Enugu said the hoodlums were killed when a combined team of Police Special Forces and Operatives serving in the Igbo-Eze North Police Division raided their camp at Imufu area of the council on Thursday.
He noted that the hoodlums were killed during a duel with the police, adding that weapons were also recovered from their camp.
According to Ndukwe, when the policemen operatives engaged them in a duel, “three of the hoodlums were neutralised in the ensuing gunfight,” adding that many others escaped with varying degrees of gunshot wounds.
“Four pump action guns, one locally fabricated revolver gun and pistol, 67 live cartridges, military camouflage, fabrics of IPOB insignia, objects suspected to be amulets and other incriminating exhibits were recovered,” the statement noted.
Meanwhile, Ndukwe said preliminary investigation revealed that “the criminal elements were responsible for the shooting and killing of two Neighbourhood Watch Group personnel on July 21 at about 1am at Umuagama in Enugu-Ezike community of Igbo-Eze North LGA and had made several attempts to enforce the illegal sit-at-home order in some parts of the council.”
He said that the Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Ammani, had reaffirmed the command’s commitment to weed out unrepentant criminals in the state while commending the operatives for successfully executing the operation.
Ndukwe noted that the commissioner tasked men and officers of the command to remain firm, resilient and maintain the tempo while soliciting the continued support of citizens of the state to weed out criminal elements in the society.
