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Kogi: Inspector killed as gunmen attack station, CP deploys more personnel

By Ibrahim Obansa, Lokoja
25 June 2022   |   4:08 am
Early hours of yesterday, unknown gunmen attacked the Police Area Command office at Eika-Ohizenyi in Okehi Local Lovernment Area of Kogi State with explosives, where the attackers reportedly killed a police officer on duty, Mr. Jibril, popularly known as ‘yellow.’

Early hours of yesterday, unknown gunmen attacked the Police Area Command office at Eika-Ohizenyi in Okehi Local Lovernment Area of Kogi State with explosives, where the attackers reportedly killed a police officer on duty, Mr. Jibril, popularly known as ‘yellow.’

An eyewitness, who is a resident of the area, Mallam Abubakar, told The Guardian that the attackers invaded the station at about 12:15am with explosives, saying the first bomb they threw into the station made heavy sound that woke many residents from their sleep.

The witness said after the first blast came the second bomb, which brought down a part of the station’s building, saying that the attackers had field day as they operated for over two hours unchallenged by either from the security agents or the people of the community.

He also revealed that the only police officer on duty, Mr. Jibril, was killed in the attack, while the operational vehicle in the police station was also destroyed.

According to him, bullets that came afterwards perforated windows of Eika community central mosque and a Catholic church near the police station during the heavy attack.

He said, “I am using this medium to appeal to security agents to be proactive and respond quickly to this type of incident because the gunmen spent over two hours operating freely without any interference.

“The first attack on the station occurred on Friday and the second one, which happened after five years, also took place on Friday and to our surprise, nobody has been arrested in connection to the attack.

“As I’m talking to you now, there is serious fear and apprehension in Eika community as people remained indoors for fear of being attacked by gunmen. We are appealing to government to beam its searchlight in this area as the attack is becoming unbearable,” he said

Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP William Ovye Aya, said the Kogi State Commissioner of Police, CP Edward Egbuka, visited the scene and deployed operational assets to restore
order.

He said, “Part of the Area Command Office was razed by dynamite used by the attackers. A Police Inspector died in the exchange of fire with the hoodlums, before the Area Commander and a detachment of military in the area reinforced to the scene of incident, and the attackers fled.

“The CP assured that the Command was committed to working in synergy with other security agencies as well as patriotic stakeholders to make the state a safe and secure place for all and sundry.”

He has further tasked the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) to commence investigations into the unfortunate incident so as to unravel the remote and immediate causes of the attack with a view to bringing the perpetrators to book.

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