The acting Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, on Tuesday, ordered the immediate arrest and prosecution of all persons involved in the brutal attack on some police officers who were on a mission to arrest some suspected armed robbers and receivers of a stolen vehicle in a community in Ogoja, Cross River State.
The attack, which occurred on last Wednesday, April 17, 2019, was allegedly masterminded and executed by one Ikenga, who the police high command described as “a notorious receiver of stolen property”, and his gang members.
A statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, said that four police officers attached to IGP Intelligence Response Team (IRT) unit were “seriously and grievously wounded, with deep matchet cuts on their heads and other parts of their bodies.”
Mba further revealed that the detectives were investigating a case of a stolen Toyota Sienna Bus earlier reported by a Lagos-based Pentecostal church, the Master Chapel Church. “The detectives had, after a painstaking investigation, arrested four male suspects – Peter, Ben, Ebuka and Johnson,” the FPRO disclosed.
“The suspects who were positively implicated in the crime by police investigation, confessed to indeed stealing the vehicle. They stated further that they had sold the vehicle to another criminal in Benue State. Hence, detectives moved to Benue State with one of the suspects.”
The suspect in Benue State was promptly arrested and he allegedly confessed that he had sold the vehicle to “another notorious receiver of stolen goods based in Ogoja for a sum of N250,000. With this discovery, the detectives proceeded straight to Cross River State, where the notorious receiver, IKENGA, was apprehended and the stolen vehicle recovered.
“However, in a bizarre twist, shortly after his arrest, the suspect raised an alarm in his native language which attracted his gang members. Subsequently, the policemen came under serious physical attack from weapon-wielding hoodlums. The officers were savagely butchered by these armed gangs. Consequently, Ikenga, the notorious crook escaped with the stolen vehicle.
“The IGP, while condemning the attack in very strong terms, warned that the police under his watch will not tolerate criminal attacks and assault on its personnel or facilities. He enjoined traditional rulers and community leaders not to allow such attacks to take place in their domain as they may be called to account.”
The IGP has, therefore, ordered for the immediate manhunt and arrest of Mr Ikenga and other members of his gang. He also urged members of the public to avail the police with credible and useful information that will lead to the apprehension of all persons involved in these unwholesome and illegal acts.