Unknown gunmen have continued to wreck mayhem in a series of targeted arson attack on Police stations and killing of personnel and carting away their rifles.
Two police stations at Ika Local Government Area and the Area Command, Etim Ekpo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State came under heavy gun assaults early Wednesday morning with one Police officer identified as PC Edogi Bassey, from Cross River state, killed in the process of repelling the hoodlums.
Nsikak Inyang, who hails from Udianga Enem in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area, told our Correspondent that the armed hoodlums arrived the Etim Ekpo Area Command at about 6:30 a.m. and started engaging the Police in gun duel leading to the dead of one operative.
“They came as a crowd and swooped on the station but were resisted by some officers on duty, unfortunately one officer was shot dead to pave the way for the hoodlums to have access into the station and razed part of it,” he explained.
The gunmen, it was gathered, later proceeded to the nearby Ika Local Government Area, where they succeeded in setting part of the station ablaze with no life lost as the Police on guard fled and took refuge after hearing the attack of their sister station and killing of colleague in the nearby Etim Ekpo.
Confirming the incident, Mr. Odiko MacDon, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), a Police Superintendent (SP), explained that the casualty figure and the damage could have been higher, but for the vigilance of the personnel of the two Commands, who repelled the assailants.
“At about 6:30 a.m., armed men with A-47 rifles and other dangerous weapons attacked a rented building housing the Etim Ekpo Area Command and Division,” he said, lamenting that one of the officers, PC Edogi Bassey, paid the supreme price.”
Describing the coordinated attacks of Police formations and personnel, as worrisome and unacceptable, MacDon assured that the Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr. Andrew Amiengheme, who is currently on tour of Police formations in the state to sensitize officers and men on the current security threats against the Police, assured that the crises would soon be nib in the bud.
He, therefore, urged the civil society to be in the vanguard of restoring peace to the state through effective intelligence sharing.
The latest killing, our correspondent gathered, has brought to 16, the number of officers killed since the crises started last month.
Governor Udom Emmanuel has donated N60 million to 21 families of slain officers and imposed dusk-to-dawn curfew in the troubled areas covering the 10 local government areas of Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District.
