The militants had on Tuesday invaded Akesan, a coastal community in Igando area of Lagos State, and unleashed terror on the residents. A police officer, who pleaded anonymity, told our correspondent yesterday that the DPO was shot in the back, while the DCO sustained gunshot injury when they were being chased by the militants.
He said the DPO and the DCO were shot when they tried to enter the Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) brought to the community to quell the clash. According to him, some policemen also sustained various degrees of injury when they were trying to repel the militants who were advancing towards the Ewedogbon bus stop. It was learnt that militants returned to the community yesterday on a reprisal attack. They were shooting sporadically in the creek, which lasted for a few hours.
“A combined team of mobile policemen, Special Anti- Robbery Squad (SARS) and OPMESA were immediately drafted to the river bank to prevent further breakdown of laws and order in the community,” the officer said. The gunmen, numbering about eight, all dressed in white shirts and trousers, were said to have invaded the community about 8a.m. on Tuesday.
They were shooting sporadically to scare away residents. But the militants were later confronted by members of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), a combined team of policemen and soldiers who chased the militants to the river bank.
The militants escaped through the creek. Meanwhile, police yesterday arrested five persons in connection with the attacks on the community. The suspects were arrested after another exchange of gun fire between the police and the militants.
It was learnt that the militants struck again shortly after the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, and his team visited the area for an on-the-spot assessment. Policemen, who were immediately deployed to the area, repelled the gunmen.
However, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Dolapo Badmos, denied the attack on the DPO, DCO and four others from the Igando Police Division. Badmos also debunked claims that Owoseni was attacked yesterday when he visited the community.
According to her, police have regained control of the area. She said: “The commissioner of police was there to see our men deployed there and to see to their welfare. He also went there for an on-the-spot assessment. “He met with the residents and we opened up investigation channels.
We discovered that the militants live within the community. What happened is that these criminals are enjoying the natural habitat because the waterways are filled with thick foliage so it is easier for them to access since they know the terrain more than we do.
“Given what we saw there, the command will put up our operational strategy to ensure they don’t continue to take advantage of the thick foliage to perpetrate crime. “We have arrested five suspects and we are using them to get information.
We are still investigating to discover their culpability. “However, our preliminary investigations revealed that these gunmen live in the community but are actually displaced pipeline vandals whose source of livelihood has been taken away, so they resorted to this.”https://newtelegraphonline.com/militants-shoot-dpo-dco-others-lagos/
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