Published 29th Nov, 2021

By Gabriel Ogunjobi

Two policemen have been killed on Friday morning along Azumini-Aba road in Abia State during a gun duel with some unknown gunmen, FIJ can exclusively report.

The officers who lost their lives at about 7 am on official duty are Assistant Superintendent (ASP) Ofem Ubi and Inspector Julius Yongyei attached to Mobile Police (MOPOL) Squadron 29 in the state.

FIJ learned that the weapons belonging to the two officers were also carted away. The weapons are one Makarov pistol with serial number IM391186, an AK 47 rifle with serial number 2620392, and 68 bullet rounds.

After the deadly operation, a team of sixteen police officers led by Superintendent Ben Lawrence combed nearby bushes to fish out the suspects but their efforts were not successful.

However, the police recovered some items belonging to the assailants, a source told FIJ. The recovered items are one LAR Magazine, one G3 Magazine, 61 bullet rounds of 7.62MM long, six cartridges, two handsets and four thousand naira.

The remains of the deceased officers have been deposited at Cottage Hospital in Abia.

Geoffrey Ogbonna, the spokesman of the Abia State Police Command, said he was not aware of the incident as MOPOL 29 was not under the command, but merely operating in the state.

In a similar pattern, around 9 am on the same day the officers were killed in Abia, another group of assailants disguised in army camouflage intercepted two officers of MOPOL 29 attached as escorts to a principal officer of Jetlinks Company.

A top police source said, “The VIP was on his way to the airport in Owerri, the capital of Imo State, when the criminals opened fire on the officers within the Ukpor Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra”.

One of the assailants was gunned down, the source added, while others escaped. A police officer also sustained a gunshot wound on the leg.

Insecurity has been on the rise in the southeast in recent times, with many police stations and officers being the target of attacks. This has led to the launch of a special “Operation Restore Peace’ to stem violence in the region.

During the launch of the special operation in May, Usman Baba Alkali, the Inspector-General of Police, accused the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of being behind the violence, adding that the group’s activities have caused “unjustifiable inter-ethnic violence” in the five southeast states.

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