A deadly ambush by unidentified gunmen on Sunday in Okigwe, Imo State, has left two police officers dead and several others injured during a routine patrol.
The slain officers, who were attached to the Mopol 18 unit in Owerri, came under heavy fire while stationed near the old Gariki area.
According to eyewitnesses, while two officers tragically lost their lives in the sudden onslaught, a few others managed to flee the scene with varying degrees of injury.
Confirming the attack, the spokesperson for the Imo State Police Command, ASP Henry Okoye, labeled the incident a tragic loss and assured that an investigation was ongoing to bring the culprits to justice.
“The incident that happened in Okigwe is a very unfortunate one,” Okoye stated. “The Commissioner of Police, Imo State, CP Aboki Danjuma, has strongly condemned the attack and gruesome murder of two of our personnel. These officers, attached to Mopol 18 Owerri, were deployed on routine patrol duty.”
“Following the attack, the Commissioner of Police, accompanied by the Mopol 18 Commander and other top-ranking officers, visited the crime scene to conduct an on-the-spot assessment of the situation.
“We have deployed tactical teams and charged them to go all out, in synergy with the military, to hunt down the hoodlums responsible for this senseless act of violence,” he said.
The gruesome incident has sparked anxiety among residents of Okigwe and surrounding communities, reigniting calls for strengthened security and proactive strategies to protect law enforcement personnel from targeted violence.