Five cops killed as hoodlums attack Enugu police station

Gunmen on Tuesday morning continued their onslaught on police formations in the South-East as they razed the Iwollo Oghe Police station in the Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State.

At least five police personnel were reportedly killed in the attack.

It was also learnt most of the vehicles and other property on the premises were burnt down.

Spokesman for the police command, Daniel Ndukwe, confirmed the incident.

He said he would not give official statement until the state Police Commissioner, Mohammed Aliyu, returned from his assessment of the damage and casualties.

The spate of attacks on South-East police stations, headquarters and security checkpoints have not spared any of the five states in the region.

Apart from killing cops and setting police vehicles and buildings ablaze, they also set suspects detained by the police.

They have extended the attacks to offices of Independent National Electoral Commission in the region as well as some South-South states such as Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Rivers.

Although no links have been made between these attacks, police sources have speculated on the likely culprits.

Former Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Adamu had accused the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its security arm, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), of carrying out the attacks.

But IPOB has denied any involvement in the attacks. Its spokesman, Emma Powerful, dismissed the allegation, stating that IPOB and the ESN had no involvement in the attacks.

Acting Inspector-General of Police, Alkali Baba, recently launched a special operation to curb the increasing violence in the South-East.

The police IG said the ‘Operation Restore Peace’ launched in Enugu was part of a new plan to protect residents and facilities in the five states in the region.

Alikali expressed his readiness to return the South-East region to “its historical pride of place where its people are known to be peaceful, tolerant, innovative, industrious and entrepreneurial.”

He said the operation, which he had also launched in the South-South, would be carried out by the police in collaboration with the armed forces and other security agencies.