Gunmen have killed two police officers and one civilian helping them to track a car stolen in the Oye Agu Market area of Abagana in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State.

The policemen numbering six and the car tracker traced the stolen car to Achalla community in Awka North LGA but they were ambushed by gunmen believed to have stolen the car being tracked.

Police spokesman DSP Toochukwu Ikenga said in a statement that two of the policemen and the car tracker were captured by the gunmen while the remaining four policemen escaped.

But a police reinforcement team that later returned to the forest where the hoodlums set up their camp engaged the criminals in a fierce gun battle.

The spokesman said that some of the gunmen sustained varying degrees of gunshot injuries. He added that a human skull, bombs, guns, hard drugs and others were recovered in the forest.

He also said that the police neutralised some of the armed hoodlums but did not mention how many they were.

The statement reads:

“The Anambra Police Command, Friday, 15/07/2022, recovered a human skull, one locally made rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher, two (RPG) bombs, one single-barrel long gun, an empty chain of bullet, one Toyota Sienna, one Mercedes Benz Formatic jeep, two cylinders, a huge quantity of hard drugs and other items, including a police beret and a police belt in a criminal den at Amukabia, Achalla, Awka North LGA in Anambra State.

“The recovery came about following a counter-offensive operation launched against criminal elements who had on 15/7/2022 laid an ambush against a 6- man police team and a civilian car tracker who were on a recovery operation of a Toyota Sienna Space Wagon vehicle earlier snatched on gunpoint on 9/7/2022 in Oye-Agu Abagana.

“Four of the police operatives escaped the ambush, while two of the police operatives and the car tracker were captured by the criminals.

“The police operatives, during the counter-offensive operation, neutralized some of the armed men and destroyed three of their camps.

“Unfortunately, some of the hoodlums escaped with bullet wounds, having already murdered their captives and set their bodies ablaze.

“The remains of the two murdered police officers and the civilian tracker have been recovered and deposited in a morgue, while police operation is still ongoing in the area to track the fleeing gang members.

“The Commissioner of Police Anambra State Command, CP Echeng Echeng, while condoling the families and friends of the murdered civilian (car tracker) and the police operatives, described the incident as a classic example of the risk and sacrifices the police are exposed to in the onerous task of serving and protecting the country.

He also assured Ndi Anambra that efforts are being intensified towards total reclamation and domination of all the public spaces occupied by hoodlums in the state, apprehending and bringing the hoodlums and their accomplices to justice,” it said. (Courtesy, excluding headline, The Sun)

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