NDLEA on manhunt of gunmen who killed its officer in Imo

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Imo State command, has said it would ensure it arrests suspected gunmen who killed its officer on duty.

NDLEA Commander in the state, Mr Nse Inam, said this in a statement signed by Mr Kayode Raji, Assistant Commander in charge of operations and intelligence in Owerri on Tuesday.

Inam in the statement regretted the death of the officer and described the incident as “unfortunate”.

He said that manhunt for the killer gunmen had commenced with the investigation on the incident being handled by appropriate law enforcement agencies.

According to him, the deceased was one of five officers of the command drafted into the drugs component of the ‘operation search and flush’, a combined security operations targeted at flashpoints of criminal activities in Imo.

He added that the officers ran into gunmen who opened fire at them upon noticing that they were law enforcement agents at Ohi junction, Mbaitoli Local Government Area, on May 5, with one officer losing his life in the process.

The commander said that two injured officers were already responding positively to treatment at a hospital in Owerri while expressing optimism that manhunt for the gunmen would yield the desired result.

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He commiserated with the family and loved ones of the deceased officer and called on members of the public to avail the police and other law enforcement agencies of any information that might lead to the arrest of criminals.

“Five officers of the command who are part of the state’s operation search and flush ran into gunmen later identified as kidnap suspects with the later opening fire at close range resulting in the death of an officer.

“Two other officers were injured and are currently responding well to treatment. Relevant security agencies are investigating the incident and we assure the general public that the culprits will be brought to book very soon.”

The NDLEA boss, however, frowned at social media publications which presented falsehood of the incident and called on Nigerians to embrace confirmed facts rather than hearsay.

“It is rather unfortunate that various social media publications on this incident have presented a different picture of what actually happened to the reading public.

“This is regrettable and we call on Nigerians to look out for confirmed facts as against mere hearsay and casual assumptions,” he said. (NAN)