Unknown gunmen attacked a police station in Abayi- Aba the commercial centre of Abia State and reportedly hauled away arms and ammunitions from the station.
According to reports, the hoodlums carried out the attack on the early hours of Tuesday, February 23 . It was gathered that the police officers engaged them in a gun battle which resulted to the loss of lives. Source say some of the officers loss their lives as well as most of the hoodlums.
The public relations officer in Abia state, Godfrey Ogbonna had confirmed the incident stating that hoodlums numbering over one hundred had attacked the police station from a nearby compound with intention of taking over the station. He revealed that the hoodlums set the building on fire and freed some prisoners and the intervention of the officers led to the death of some of the hoodlums while others fled with gunshot wounds. Ogbonna added that the police were able to arrest some of the hoodlums and they are in search of the others that managed to escape.
Meanwhile, the Abia State Government in a statement has condemned the incident tagging it “mindless and cowardly.” The government noted that security agencies in the state have swung into action to fish out the perpetrators of the crime and bring them to justice as quickly as possible, vowing that no part of Abia will be ceded to criminals operating under any guise.
The state government had placed a bounty on the hoodlums promised to pay ₦1 million to anyone with relevant information leading to the recovery of the stolen arms as well as the arrest of any suspects. He urged all health facilitators in the state to report anybody with suspected bullet injuries that visit them for treatment.
More also the state government had imposed a curfew on the operation of motorcycles and tricycles from between 7:00 pm and 7:00 in the two major cities of the state; Aba and Umuahia which effected on Monday.
