POLICE KILL FIVE SUSPECTED GUNMEN IN OWERRI

Reporter : CHINAZO ILECHUKWU

A joint security operation, made up of the police, army and Department of State Security (DSS), has shot dead five gunmen during a gun battle in Owerri on Sunday.

Parading the corpses of the suspects at the police headquarters in Owerri, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in charge of the Command, Mr. Bala Elkana, said the hoodlums met their waterloo during a failed attempt to attack the Imo State Government House and the police headquarters.

The PPRO said the gang led by one of the deceased popularly known as “Dragon” was responsible for the attacks on security personnel, police facilities and government property in the state.

Mr. Elkana said a member of the gang was apprehended during the operation.

The police spokesman noted that confessional statement from the suspect led to the dislodgement of their camp in Ikeduru Local Government Area of the state and subsequent freeing of a woman police officer abducted by the gang on Tuesday last week.

Mr. Elkana said the command had opened a window for those in possession of firearms belonging to security agencies to quietly return them before June 12.

He said the police would embark on mop up of the arms at the expiration of the ultimatum and those caught with the weapons would face the full weight of the law.

The apprehended suspect, Stanley Osinachi, who hails from Mbieri in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State confessed to the crime.

The suspected noted that they were on a mission to attack security agencies before his men fell to the superior firepower of security agencies.

Items allegedly recovered from the gang were two buses, four AK47 rifles, locally made explosive devices and charms.