The Police Command in Enugu State has arrested three suspects for alleged murder of two policemen and three Neighbourhood Watch Group members in an ambush within Igga community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area.
The command’s Spokesman, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, said in a statement issued on Monday in Enugu that the ‘unprovoked, unwarranted attack and gruesome murder’ of five security operatives was carried out by harboured criminal members of the community.
Ndukwe said that the attack was carried out in the community on Friday evening.
He further stated that on the same date, a combined security team of three policemen and four
Neighbourhood Watch Group provided security for a team of visiting investors from Lagos on a tour of a proposed agricultural investment site in the area.
“However, the team was ambushed and attacked by a large group of the criminal elements, who opened fire on them. Upon the unprovoked sudden attack, members of the team scampered for safety.
“An Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), who led the team, one neighbourhood watch personnel and three members of the team of investors were later rescued by a policemen team that immediately mobilised to the crime scene.
“But the eventually murdered members of the team went missing and unaccounted for. However, in the course of a full-scale investigation, a search and manhunt operation launched thereafter, three males suspected to have masterminded the attack were arrested.
“Their revelations during interrogation led to the discovery and recovery of the slain two policemen and three neighborhood watch group members in the forest on May 4, 2024,” he said.
The spokesman said that their lifeless bodies were taken to the hospital, confirmed dead by doctors and deposited in the mortuary for preservation and autopsy.
Ndukwe said that the Commissioner of Police, Mr Kanayo Uzuegbu, had described the unprovoked criminal act of the gruesome murder of the security personnel as inconceivable, dastardly and unwarranted.
He said that the commissioner had ordered further deployment of the command’s intelligence and operational resources to sustain the manhunt of the fleeing criminals.
“The police will stop at nothing to fish out and bring the perpetrators of the senseless act to book.
“Furthermore, the commissioner has cautioned those who, in an attempt to misinform and mislead unsuspecting members of the public, are circulating unverified videos alleging the burning and looting of houses in the community by joint forces to desist forthwith.
“The commissioner has also advised members of Igga community, particularly the criminal elements directly involved in the unthinkable and wanton act of murdering serving police officers and others, to voluntarily surrender themselves to the police without delay,” he said. (NAN)
