The Ebonyi State Police Command has launched a manhunt against suspected hoodlums who killed four Police officers on duty in Abakaliki on Friday.
The killing which took place around 5am also left 2 female civilians dead during a shootout between the Police and the hoodlums as the suspects reportedly abandoned their guns and fled to avoid arrest.
Joshua Ukandu, a Deputy Suprintendent of Police and Acting Police Public Relations Officer, Ebonyi State Command, Abakaliki, who confirmed the attack,.said Augustina Ogbodo, Ebonyi State Commissioner of Police, urged members of the public to assist the Police with useful information to track the fleeing suspects.
Ukandu said, “Today (Friday) 08/03/2024 at about 5 a.m., operatives of the Command who were posted to duty at Hilltop stop and search/pin-down point along Nwofe Road, at the outskirts of Abakaliki, were attacked by armed hoodlums suspected to be IPOB/ESN members, who shot sporadically at the operatives.
“The operatives engaged the hoodlums in a fierce gun duel, and in the ensuing gun battle, the hoodlums scampered and abandoned a pump action rifle which was recovered. However, four (4) of the operatives paid the supreme price, while two (2) civilians were caught in the crossfire and killed.
“The Commissioner Of Police, Ebonyi State Police Command, CP Augustina Ogbodo, swiftly dispatched tactical teams of the Command to the scene, who are on the trail of the fleeing hoodlums.