The Imo state government on Monday said one of the two Military officers killed in last Friday’s clash in the Izombe community between members of the gang of the deceased Obele and the Military officers was an indigene of Imo State.

The Imo State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba, disclosed this to newsmen in Owerri while sympathising with the victims of the ugly incident and those whose houses were burnt.

He said the military officers came on the invitation of the villagers who placed a distress call across to the military over a security threat allegedly caused by the Obele and his loyalists and that when the military wanted to arrest Obele, he refused and engaged the military with his gun.

In the process, Obele was killed and his men came for attack and killed two military officers, collected their arms and ammunition, stripped them of their uniform and clubbed them to death.

He added that the suspect that was shot dead by the military was an escapee from the Owerri Correctional Center during the jailbreak.

Emelumba said: “Whenever loss of lives is involved it calls for sober mood. We want to sympathise with the families of those who lost their lives and whose houses were burnt. It is so unfortunate one of the military guys that was killed was an indigene of Imo State.

“So unfortunate according to the security report the 80 per cent of the planning that led to the attack of the Owerri Correctional Center took place in the Oguta area. The suspect according to the security report was an escapee of the Owerri correctional centre during the time of jailbreak.”

“It Is good to know this, it was the villagers who invited the military because of the security threat from this suspect that was killed and on seeing the military he engaged the military with his gun while they were trying to arrest him and in the process, he was killed.

“It was his men that now went and attacked the military and took two of the military officers to a particular place and collected their arms and ammunitions collected their uniforms and beat them to death,” Emelumba said.

(Vanguard: Excluding headline)

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