Gunmen kill 2 cops, cart away rifles in Delta

RAMPAGING gunmen, at the weekend, snuffed life out of two mobile policemen and carted away rifles in Delta.

The incident created anxiety around Usiefurun Road area of Orhuwhorun, a suburb of Warri, in Udu Local Government Area of the state.

The mobile policemen were said to be on guard duty in the area before the hoodlums reportedly took them unawares.

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The assailants swooped on the cops, shot them dead and made away with their rifles.

Several residents of the area, who reportedly scampered for safety, sustained varying degrees of gunshot injuries.

The tension created, it was gathered, led to several residents fleeing their homes on Friday.

Reports said the fleeing was at the instance of alleged threats from colleagues of the fallen cops to smoke out hoodlums fun the area.

One of the residents of the area, who spoke under conditions of anonymity, said he and his family, just like most other residents of the area, had taken cover elsewhere since Friday.

“My wife and the children are with my in-laws since yesterday (Friday), while I have since been in my cousin’s place in town (Warri).

“Our landlord also left with his family. He said so long as they don’t burn his house, he would return when everything has returned to normal.

“People are running away because that later that evening when other policemen came they were very angry and were threatening that they would start killing people if the community failed to produce the killers and the rifles.

“They also went to the palace of the traditional ruler and asked him to produce the rifles,” the community source, disclosed.

Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Delta State Police Command, DSP Andrew Aniamaka, disclosed that the command was already on the trail of the perpetrators.

He added that there would be no rest until the killers are brought to justice.

“We are on the trail of the criminals, who carried this act out and shall not rest until we bring them to Justice.

“There’s no way any police personnel will threaten the people because, without the people, there can’t be the police force; we only exist because there are people.

“I must plead, though, that people with credible information about how these criminals can be arrested should volunteer such information.

“You and I know that those who collected those rifles did not take them for nothing, they definitely want to use them to further do harm to innocent people,” he said.

Killing of the cops and carting away their weapons have become a very common occurrence in the state in the last few months with no respite on sight.