THE Anambra State police command has confirmed the killing of two of its officers by suspected Indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB) members during a confrontation with the police.
The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Haruna Mohammed, who confirmed the killings in a statement, said there was a formal complaint against one Mr Ifeanyi Ejiofor in an alleged case of abduction, assault and malicious damage to property.
The police spokesperson said: “Following the report, police patrol teams, led by the Area Commander of Oraifite, ACP Oliver Abbey, mobilised to the scene in order to arrest the suspect who had declined police invitation.
“As policemen arrived at the house, armed men suspected to be IPOB members descended on them, set ablaze one patrol vehicle and attacked them with rifles and machetes.
“As a result, two police officers whose identities are being withheld were killed by the suspected IPOB members, while others were inflicted with machete cuts.
“The injured personnel were rushed to the hospital for medical attention and are presently receiving treatment.
“Consequently, the command deployed reinforcements from the state headquarters, comprising PMF, SARS and Special Anti Cultism Units, in conjunction with the army and other sister agencies, who cordoned off the area in order to fish out the culprits, while joint patrol is still ongoing in the town to prevent further breakdown of law and order.”
The PPRO said some arrests were made and that the state Commissioner of Police, John Abang, who visited the scene, vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.
However, in a statement made available to newsmen on Monday, leader of the proscribed IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, accused the state police command of invading the house of his lawyer, Mr Ejiofor, in Ifite Oraifite in Ekwusigo Local Government Area of the state and killed two people.
Kanu said that apart from those who died, many others were wounded during the alleged invasion.
It was gathered that two people died after being shot by police operatives, while youths in the community retaliated by killing two policemen while burning their bodies at Nkwo area of Oraifite.
Kanu alleged that a combined team of the Nigeria Police and the military invaded Ejiofor’s home in a bid to kill him and members of his family.
He said the latest invasion came after the killing of two IPOB members who gathered in Arondizuogu on December 1.
The IPOB leader then urged the United Nations, US embassy, British high commission and other foreign diplomatic presence in Nigeria to take note of the development and convey the same to their home countries.
The traditional ruler of Oraifite, Dr Dan Udeorji, confirmed the incident but said he didn’t have the details of what actually happened as he was at an occasion when he got the information via a text message.