On Wednesday, joint police patrol teams along the Abatete–Eziowelle road in Anambra State were reportedly the target of a coordinated armed attack by gunmen suspected of being members of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which resulted in the injury of an officer and the removal of two service rifles.
Zagazola Makama claims that the attackers, who were armed with AK-47 rifles and general-purpose machine guns, drove a white Toyota Highlander, a black Lexus 350 SUV, and a white Toyota Hummer bus, all of which had unidentified registration numbers.
Personnel from the Department of Operations (DOPS), State Headquarters, Awka, and the Special Anti-Cultism Squad were heavily targeted by the attackers, who were disguised in full military and police uniforms. The militants were forced to flee when the patrol teams engaged them in a violent gunfight.
The Special Anti-Cultism Squad patrol bus caught fire after the attackers’ rounds hit it during the gunfight, while the DOPS patrol pickup vehicle was damaged and sprayed with bullets.
Inspector Uduak Anthony of MOPOL 29 Awka, a member of the DOPS patrol squad, lost his Type 06 rifle (Breech No. 10967), which was loaded with 35 rounds of ammunition, during the operation, according to sources who spoke with the aforementioned platform. The gun slid from his grasp as he ran for cover. The extremists took the weapon and carried it away.
According to reports, the gunmen stole a Mercedes Benz SUV from Eze Tochukwu, an Enugu State driver, and drove toward Umuoji in Idemili North LGA.
At Umuoji, the assailants saw two police inspectors working for Senator Chris Ngige, a former Anambra governor and labor minister. The terrorists ambushed and opened fire on Insp. Udezike Kingsley of DOPS and Insp. Eniobong Roberts of 29 PMF Awka while they were in a car.
While Insp. Roberts battled the assailants and forced them to abandon the stolen Mercedes Benz SUV, which was later found by police, Insp. Udezike was shot in the left leg while trying to seek cover, and his AK-47 rifle was taken.
Zagazola was informed by a senior police officer that the Command’s tactical units have been fully engaged and are “currently combing suspected hideouts, camps, and escape routes of the terrorists” in order to apprehend the assailants and retrieve the stolen weapons.
