Attack On Imo INEC Office IPOB Behind It – Police

Post created on 12:08 pm

The Police Command in Imo State has said the attack on the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Owerri was carried out by gunmen suspected to be members of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and its affiliate, Eastern Security Network (ESN).

Mike Abattam, the Police Relations Officer confirmed this in a statement on Tuesday.

During the attack in the early hours of Monday,  three gunmen and a policeman, while one policeman got injured.

The PPRO said one other policeman died from the attack.

Abattam said, “On 12/12/2022 at about 0330hours, armed bandits suspected to be members of the proscribed IPOB and its armed affiliate, ESN, in their numbers, came to the INEC’s office along Port-Harcourt Road, New Owerri, shooting sporadically, and threw improvised explosives into the premises of the INEC from a petroleum filling station that share fence with the commission.”

He added, “At the INEC office, two offices were affected by the explosives and petrol bomb; however the main building remains intact.

“The corpses of the neutralized hoodlums and that of the two police operatives, who paid the supreme price, were evacuated and deposited at the Federal Medical Centre Owerri, and another operative who sustained a bullet wound on his leg was rushed to the hospital for treatment and is in stable condition.

“Meanwhile, concerted efforts are being made to arrest the fleeing suspects since they cannot go far, due to the various degrees of injuries they sustained in the gun duel.”