12 police killed as gunmen attack Rivers, A/Ibom checkpoints, police stations – Newstrends
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12 police killed as gunmen attack Rivers, A/Ibom checkpoints, police stations

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Twelve police including officers have been killed in separate gunmen attacks on police checkpoints, police stations and headquarters in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states.

Rivers police command spokesman, Nnamdi Omoni, confirmed on Saturday that seven police officers were killed.

He said the attack occurred on Friday night at two police stations and a checkpoint, adding that vehicles belonging to the Rivers command were also set ablaze.

Two of the attackers were also said to have been shot dead.

“The incident which led to the death of seven policemen occurred last night at about 2030hrs, where unknown gunmen driven in two branded Hilux vans, attacked the special checkpoint at Choba Bridge, where in a surprise attack, killed two policemen on duty and set ablaze a private car belonging to one of the Policemen,” Omoni said in a statement.

He also said, “A similar attack was launched at Rumuji Police Station by the same hoodlums who killed two Policemen on duty and burnt a Police patrol vehicle.

“However, a stiff resistance by the Police prevented the hoodlums from gaining access into the police station. In the course of exchange of fire, two of the attackers were fatally wounded and died on the spot.

“The third attack at Elimgbu Police Station was equally resisted by the Police, though three officers were killed in that attack, but the serious fire engagement made them to abandon their bullet riddled Hilux van, while they escaped with various degrees of gunshot wounds with a snatched Sienna bus.

“The continued engagement by the police also forced them to abandon the Sienna car they were using to escape at the Refinery Junction, while their remnants again escaped with bullet wounds.”

The police spokesman added that the corpses of the deceased officers had been deposited in the mortuary, and calm restored to the area.

He also noted that Rivers police commissioner, Eboka Friday, had launched an investigation into the incident, while a police team is currently on the trail of the attackers.

This happened despite a curfew imposed in Rivers days after nine security operatives of the army, police and the Nigerian Customs Service were killed at various checkpoints around the state.

In Akwa Ibom State, five policemen and one woman were killed during a Saturday dawn attack at the divisional police headquarters, Odoro Ikpe in the Ini Local Government Area.

Chairman of the council, Mr Israel Adaisin, who confirmed the incident in a statement on Saturday, blamed members of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) for the attack.

According to him, the gunmen invaded the divisional police station around 2.45am and killed five police officers.

He said they also killed one woman, burnt several vehicles and destroyed other facilities.

He said eyewitnesses told him the gunmen, numbering more than 40, arrived at the council headquarters in two buses and a Sienna car.

The chairman said, “They arrived at Ini Local Government Area with sophisticated weapons, broke into the police facility at precisely 2.45am, killing five policemen on duty, burning of vehicles while inflicting injuries on others.”

He added some police officers who attempted to repel the gunmen were overrun.

Adaisin, who visited the scene of the attack with member representing Ini Constituency in Akwa Ibom Assembly, Emmanuel Bassey, appealed for calm while condoling with the victims.

He said, “I can confirm that gunmen arrived at the Ini Local Government Area with two buses and one Sienna car on Saturday at 2.45 am numbering more than 40 men, killed 5 policemen on duty and one woman at Odoro Ikpe Police Station while burning several vehicles during the attack.

“I want to also extend my heartfelt condolences to the fallen heroes families and the Nigeria Police Force who died in the line of duty.

“I want to also thank the youths of the Ini Local Government Area who were proactive in raising alarm which was the needed force that helped to reduce the level of casualties which would have been recorded as a result of the attack.

“I urge the good people of the Ini LGA to stay calm as we are working with relevant security agencies and the government of Akwa Ibom State to ensure that the situation is contained and necessary modalities are being put in place to forestall a reoccurrence.

“There is no cause for fear as the culprits will be brought to book in no distant time.”

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Repentant Boko Haram members burn NDLEA, Customs checkpoints in Borno

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May 3, 2024

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Repentant Boko Haram members burn NDLEA, Customs checkpoints in Borno

A group of suspected repentant Boko Haram insurgents, on Wednesday stormed the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Nigeria Customs Service checkpoints at Kasuwan Fara, a suburb of Maiduguri metropolis, chasing away the personnel on duty and setting ablaze all structures at the checkpoints.

The incident, according to security analyst and counter insurgency expert, Zagazola Makama, followed a fierce encounter between the former Boko Haram combatants and the police at the Kasuwan Fara Divisional Police Office.

The suspected repentant insurgents, reportedly wearing military uniform, had pounced on the police office to forcefully set free their eight colleagues arrested at the suburb over criminal activities bordering on dealing in hard drugs.

The arrest was made on April 24 during a raid carried out by the police on the notorious spot at the criminals-ridden Kasuwan Fara.

“Due to the rise and persistence of criminal activities and sinister operations by drug peddlers comprising dismissed military personnel, repentant insurgents and other hoodlums, who assemble there to conduct nefarious activities, the area had since been earmarked for closure by Borno State Government.

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“The April 24 raid, where the eight suspected repentant insurgents were arrested and 426 bottles of spirits such as dry gin confiscated, was conducted to sanitize the area, pending the final closure.

“The arrested persons were detained at the Kasuwan Fara police division since the day of their arrest.

” Subsequently, at about 7:40 am of Thursday, May 2, a dozen of the suspected repentant insurgents in military uniform, stormed the Kasuwan Fara police station in an attempt to rescue their arrested fellows.

” The Divisional Police Officer alongside his men were able to repel the attack while the perpetrators fled.

” Consequently, the assailants, in an apparent transfer of aggression, reverted to attacking NDLEA and NCS personnel checkpoint along the Maiduguri-Gubio road Kasuwan Fara, where they burnt down the checkpoints alongside the sandbags heaped on the road and fled the scene, ” Zagazola Makama said.

Borno Police Command spokesman, ASP Kenneth Daso, who confirmed the incident, said investigations were ongoing to apprehend the attackers, adding that the arrested eight suspects have been handed over to relevant security quarters.

Repentant Boko Haram members burn NDLEA, Customs checkpoints in Borno

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Police identify officer who shot man dead at fuel station

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May 3, 2024

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Police identify officer who shot man dead at fuel station

The Police Command in Lagos State has identified the officer who allegedly shot a man dead at a filling station in the Obalende area of the state.

The command’s spokesperson, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the development in a post he shared on his verified X handle@ben Hundeyin on Thursday.

He said that the officer had been identified.

“The person behind the shooting has been identified as a police officer serving at Special Protection Unit (SPU) Base 17, Lion Building, Lagos.

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“Investigation is still ongoing and further findings will be made available, ” he said.

According to Hundeyin, the State Commissioner of Police, CP Adegoke Fayoade is working with the family of the deceased to ensure that there is no miscarriage of justice.

It could be recalled that the deceased, Toheeb Eniasa, was shot dead by a policemam on Wednesday while struggled to buy fuel.

It was learnt that two officers drove into the station to purchase fuel but motorists asked them to join the queue.

In the process, an argument ensured which resulited into a fight and one of the officers shot Eniasa and ran away.

Police identify officer who shot man dead at fuel station

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N3bn fraud: Court adjourns trial of ex-Benue governor Suswam until May 8

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May 3, 2024

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Former Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam

N3bn fraud: Court adjourns trial of ex-Benue governor Suswam until May 8

The Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned until May 8, 2024, the N3.1 billion money laundering case against former Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam.

This was contained in a circular issued by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

“Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, has adjourned to 8th and 10th May 2024, for the continuation of the trial of the former governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswan, in the N3.1 billion money laundering case instituted against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC,” the circular stated.

WITHIN NIGERIA recalls that it was alleged that Suswam attempted to influence the outcome of his trial by bribing the former judge handling the case, Justice Ahmed R. Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

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According to sources, Suswam allegedly gave the judge the equivalent of N500 million (in foreign currency) at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja in 2019.

The EFCC accused Suswam of selling shares belonging to the Benue State Investment and Property Company and diverting part of the proceeds (N3,111,008,018.51) to a company named Fanfash Resources, with a Zenith Bank account that belongs to Abubakar Umar, who operates a Bureau de Change in Abuja.

The sum was later withdrawn and converted into foreign currencies, allegedly handed over to the former governor at his residence.

N3bn fraud: Court adjourns trial of ex-Benue governor Suswam until May 8

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