Minister describes Imo attack as act of terrorism

The Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Muhammad Dingyadi has described the Monday attack on security operatives and formations in Imo as an act of terrorism.

The Press Secretary to the Minister, Mr Osaigbovo Ehisienmen, said this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

Other facilities attacked were the Police Command Headquarters in Imo and the Headquarters of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCS) in the state.

Dingyadi said that the highly reprehensible attack was an act of declaration of hostility against the Nigerian state.

He condemned the attack in strong terms and called on leaders in the South East and Nigeria, in general, to speak up against the simile manifestation of terrorism in the region.

The minister said the call was to prevent the attack from snowballing into a full-scale crisis.

He commended the Nigeria Police for the deployment of critical policing assets to Imo to fish out the perpetrators of the attack with a view to bringing them to justice.

Dingyadi said the measures put in place by the Police, would be extended to the entire South East and its contiguous states in the South-South and Northcentral.

He said the idea was to neutralize criminal elements threatening the regions.

The minister enjoined residents of South East, to cooperate with the police and other security agencies by exposing these enemies of the people.