Police Discover IPOB Camps In Delta, Lose Two Officers, Kill Three Hoodlums During Gun Duel
LAGOS FEBRUARY 25TH (URHOBOTODAY)-The Delta State Police Command Asaba has uncovered camps used members of the proscribed Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) for their nefarious activities.
According to reports, the camps, numbering about three was used by these hoodlums who also double as transit armed robbers were uncovered along Ugbolu/Illah road by the bank of the river Niger and the Utulu-Asaba expressway.
Sources said the strange discovery followed a grueling gun battle between the hoodlums and the Police during which three members of the gang were gunned down.
Reports also say the Police lost two of its gallant officers and their rifles to the blood thirsty armed men said to also be out for Police rifles.
According to sources, some of those shot and arrested in their criminal hideout had confessed to Police detectives that they were involved in series of kidnappings in the state adding that they were broke and needed money for sustainability.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police Muhammed Ari Ali in an interview with CrimeWorld magazine said revelations had shown that the hoodlums were responsible for the attacks on his men and snatching of their rifles.
CP Ali has therefore, vowed to track down fleeing members of the syndicate and brings them to justice in no distance time.
He said, “If you notice, there had been a slight spike in crime rate for about a week now and this had kept me and my officers and men on our toes. Discrete due diligence led to the discovery of camps used by some IPOB members at the bank of the river Niger along Ugbolu/Illah road.
“ The day my men stormed the camp, they were prepared, ambushed and engaged us in a fierce battle; leading to the fatality of two of my men and the loss of their rifles; but not without having gunned down 3 of their men and arrested others with bullet wounds.
“During the exchange of gun fire, these people were able to take their dead members away from the scene of the battle but their corpses were recovered the following day when we went back there. and deposited them at FMC Asaba. A lot of arms and ammunition, military camouflages, pepper spray, charms, their banners, cutlasses, daggers and every imaginable dangerous weapon were recovered in these camps.”
Continuing, the CP added, “What I have discovered, because I was personally there, is that they don’t live in those camps, they go there probably to hold meetings and plan how to attack innocent persons especially, the Police and snatch their rifles. After their meeting, they will cross over the river Niger to Anambra State.
“I am convinced that these are the syndicates that attacked my Policemen at Warri and Sapele respectively. We also discovered another of their camp along the Ubulu-Okiti/Asaba expressway where we have recovered a lot of arms and ammunition too.
“ I am in talk with His Excellency, Dr. Arthur Ifeanyi Okowa, the Executive Governor of Delta State and my Anambra State counterpart as well as sister agencies to fine-tune modalities on how to jointly tackle this menace both aerially and on land. The assurance I can give is that in no distance time, this syndicate or syndicates would be neutralized. That is my aim and that is what the man who deployed me here wants me to achieve and I will not disappoint him nor the good people of Delta State.”