By Ekamma UBA, Assistant Investigator Editor, Lagos.
BLOOD flowed free Thursday, in Isanlu community of Kopgi State as daredevil armed men overran the Divisional Police Headquarters and gunned down no fewer than 10 Police officers including the Divisional Police Officer DPO. Sources said the armed gang thereafter, invaded the nearby First bank where they also shot dead another Policeman on guard duty and one of the bank’s customers. Unspecified amount of money was reportedly carted away by the trigger happy suspected robbers who shattered the bank building with gunfire. Already, the Inspector General of Police IGP MA Adamu sources said has deployed crack detectives attached to the DCP Abba Kyari-led IRT, Federal Anti-Robbery Squad FSARS and the Special Tactical Squad STS to the troubled community and beyond with a view to unraveling the brains behind the dastardly act. CrimeWorld was told that the armed men had invaded the Isanlu Division at about 1,15pm, held the few Policemen on duty hostage, shooting sporadically into the Police station, forced open the cell and released detained suspects. Having satisfied that they had instilled fears in the Police, they made for the nearby First bank and bombarded the building with heavy shelling before carting away amount yet to be ascertained in their getaway vehicles. An eyewitness said, “The robbers came in two vehicles; a bus and a car with which they also escaped from the town,” adding, “the car is believed to have been snatched from its owner because it was later abandoned around Kizito College area of Isanlu.”
But relaying the Police IG’s condemnation of the act and measure put in place to unearth brains behind the attack, the Force public relations officer DCP Frank Mba in a statement assured that perpetrators of the act would soon be rounded up adding, “The Inspector-General of Police, IGP M.A Adamu, has ordered a full-scale manhunt for the perpetrators of the attack on Isanlu Police station and a commercial bank in Yagba East LGA of Kogi State on June 4, 2020. The IGP while condemning the incident has deployed a team of crack detectives from the Intelligence Response Team IRT, the Special Tactical Squad STS and Federal-SARS to Kogi State to ensure that the criminals are apprehended and brought to book. The IGP has also directed the Assistant Inspector-General AIG of Police in charge of the Zone-8 Police Headquarters, Lokoja, AIG Yunana Babas, to immediately assess and review the security arrangement in Kogi State and environ so as to prevent any future occurrence of such untoward incident in the State. The AIG is to personally oversee the ongoing investigations into the attack and coordinate intelligence that will lead to unearthing the whereabouts of the hoodlums and the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate incident. The IGP condoles with the families of the Police officers and other persons who lost their lives in the course of duty during the encounter with the hoodlums. He calls on the Isanlu Community and the entire people of Kogi State to remain calm and to avail the Police with credible information that will help in the speedy arrest of the criminal elements.”
