Agency Report
Anambra State Police Command has confirmed the killing of two suspected criminals linked to an attack on the convoy of a former Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, in a gun battle and arrested others.
The command termed the development a major operational breakthrough in its ongoing efforts to rid the state of criminal elements and ensure the safety of lives and property.
Spokesperson for the command, Tochukwu Ikenga, who made the disclosure yesterday, said operatives of the Rapid Response Squad, RRS, in Awkuzu, acting on credible intelligence, laid ambush on a five-man gang at Enugwu Agidi junction.
According to him, the suspects, believed to be armed robbers and cultists with links to a proscribed secessionist group, engaged the operatives in a gun battle upon sighting them.
“During the exchange, which lasted about two hours, two of the armed suspects sustained fatal gunshot injuries, while three others escaped with varying degrees of injuries,” he stated.
Ikenga stated that the operatives recovered one T.06 rifle, two pump-action guns, 24 rounds of T.06 ammunition, 15 live cartridges, assorted criminal charms, a cult red beret and a black Toyota Highlander vehicle.
Meanwhile, six persons have been confirmed dead in a road crash involving an articulated trailer and a truck along Potiskum-Damaturu Highway in Yobe State.
According to eyewitnesses, the two vehicles had a head-on-collision with the truck driver blamed for driving against traffic.
The trailer was on its way to Maiduguri, Borno State, conveying soya beans with five occupants including the driver.
Only one of them survived with injuries, as the remaining occupants lost their lives.
The truck, which was said to be at fault, was carrying earth mould bricks with two persons losing their lives in that vehicle.
The scene of the accident was besieged by many travelers who went to support the rescue efforts, though they could not do much as the trailer was badly damaged.
Personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, under Yobe State Sector Command lifted the trailer with a crane.
