THE State Police Command today blamed suspected members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as being behind the attack on the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state.
Gunmen this morning attacked the INEC facility along Port Harcourt Road in Owerri, the state capital. Four persons including one policeman lost their lives in the dastard attack.
Few hours after the attack, the spokesperson for the Imo State Police Command, Mike Abattam said that an investigation is ongoing to ascertain the group behind the heinous act.
“They are suspected members of the Indigenous People of Biafra. Presently, we are investigating. It is the outcome of our investigation that will determine those that will be held complicit,” he said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
“We gave them a hot chase. The Command’s Tactical teams were able to follow them and in the process, we were able to neutralise three of them.”
The police spokesman said operatives were able to recover three AK-47 rifles, three pump action guns, two Improvised Explosive Device (IED), petrol bombs, charms and other dangerous weapons.
Noting that two of the gunmen were captured alive with bullet injuries, the police official said the Command is still combing the area to apprehend other fleeing suspects.
