HELL was let loose yesterday in Benin yesterday when a gang of heavily armed gunmen struck at uptown Ikpoba hill and abducted the Chief Medical Director of one of the specialist hospitals in the state.
During the assault which happened at about ten in the morning, the doctor’s armoured plated vehicle was riddled with bullets while two policemen, attached to him and rode inside the car were feared to have been shot dead.
According to an eye witness who refused to disclose his name, shell shocked, people ran helter-skelter when the bandits who apparently laid a snare for the medical director shot at the vehicle in a hail of bullets as he arrived the Edo State capital from Esan Central local government area of the state, about an hour drive.
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The eye witness who took flight and hid in the nearby bush explained that the shooting which was like a scene from a Nollywood movie left the bullet-proofed vehicle relatively unscathed but was shocked when the driver suddenly stopped the car by the roadside, jumped out and dashed off to the bush.
In the melee, he said that the gunmen used the butts of their rifles to smash the windows and windscreens of the ill-fated vehicle and fatally shot the two police escorts.
He explained that the chief medical director was dragged out the car after the policemen were killed and driven away in their vehicle to an unknown destination.
The Edo State Police spokesman, Mr. Chidi Nwanbuzor who confirmed the incident said that the command was on top of the situation and was determined to arrest the culprits and free the victim.
Nwanbuzor, a deputy superintendent of police said: “The incident happened but we are still investigating. We are yet to determine the identity of the victim. We don’t know how many people were killed. We are on the trail of the kidnappers.”
Meanwhile, the Edo State Police have dismissed three policemen attached to the state government security outfit, Operation Wabaizighan, for engaging in unprofessional conduct and losing their service guns.
Nwanbuzor gave the names of the policemen who have since been docked as Sergeant Emmanuel Uzor, 35, Corporal Michael Akharemen, 31 and Constable Jimoh Halilu.
He said that the three policemen had checked into a hotel in the Uwasota neighbourhood of Benin only to step out without their guns only to discover that two out of the three guns were missing when they return.
and then