Gunmen claim lives of two police officers in deadly attack, occurring one day after Ribadu’s comment

Just a day after Nuhu Ribadu, the national security adviser, expressed satisfaction with the sharp decline in attacks on police formations in the South-East, two police officers were slain in Abakaliki on Friday when an unidentified gunman opened fire on their patrol squad.

Onome Onovwakpoyeya, the state’s police spokeswoman, verified the occurrence in a statement.

She said that the gunmen, who she believed to be members of a pro-separatist gang, attacked the police officers along Nwofe Road while they were on routine patrol.

She stated that one of the team’s three police officers had been hurt and was undergoing treatment at an unidentified hospital.

She stated: “Today, November 17, 2023, at approximately 8:00 a.m., armed thugs driving a tinted Highlander car with an unknown licence plate attacked Operatives of the Command on patrol at Nwofe Road on the outskirts of Abakaliki.

“One (1) Operative is undergoing treatment at the hospital, while two (2) were killed in action.”

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The state’s commissioner of police, Augustina Ogbodo, sent tactical teams to the area as soon as she received the distress call, according to the spokeswoman.

According to her, the tactical team quickly intervened and gave the thugs a fierce chase, but they managed to get away.

It was reported that the police commissioner went to the scene of the incident with her management team to conduct an immediate evaluation.

Assuring people of a round-the-clock visibility sweep of the state’s innards, Onome continued, “She is using this medium to call on well-meaning individuals of the State to avail the Command with useful information that can lead to the arrest of the fleeing hoodlums.”