The Imo State Police Command has said that it has arrested 18 hoodlums suspected to be members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB/ESN) over the killing of the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Ahiazu Mbaise and an Inspector of Police at BOEK Petroleum Filling Station at Mbaise council area of Imo State.

The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Henry Okoye made this known in a statement issued on Monday and made available to newsmen in the state capital.

According to the statement, the policemen were fueling their operational vehicle at the said filling station when hoodlums suspected to be members of the IPOB/ESN, dressed in military camouflage and black and red regalia, swooped on them with three vehicles and motorcycles and started firing sporadically.

The PPRO highlighted that the police operatives fought gallantly but, unfortunately, the DPO and an Inspector of Police paid the supreme price in the gun duel that ensued while two police officers survived the attack.

“No stone will be left unturned in ensuring that the perpetrators of the dastardly act are made to face the full wrath of the law.

Police operatives led by CP Aboki Danjuma on a confidence-building patrol in Ahiazu Mbaise responded immediately and gave the hoodlums a hot chase, which forced them to flee with various degrees of gunshot injuries, abandoning some of their operational motorcycles.

“The operatives were swiftly reinforced by the military, led by the Brigade Commander, 34 Artillery Brigade Obinze. Intense combing of the area is ongoing. (Text, excluding headline: New Telegraph)