Gunmen, on Friday night, killed two policemen attached to the Enugu State Police Command.
The policemen attached to the Ogui Divisional Headquarters were said to be conducting a stop-and-search along Presidential Road, Enugu when they suddenly came under attack by armed men.
The incident was said to have happened around 9.30pm.
While reacting to the development on Saturday, Governor Peter Mbah has placed a N10 million bounty on the heads of the killers.
Mbah vowed that his administration would go after the culprits with every resource at its disposal to bring the killers to book.
He made the vow while briefing reporters after a State Security Council meeting at the Government House, Enugu, which also had in attendance, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kanayo Uzuegbu; State Director, State Security Services, Theresa Egbunu; Garrison Commander, 82 Division, Nigerian Army, Enugu, Brigadier General Murtala Abu; and the State Commander, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Peter Ogar, among others.
On the possible culprits, Mbah said available security information pointed to men of the Eastern Security Network, ESN, a security outfit of the Indigenous People of Biafra.
According to him, they came in several SUVs, among them a black Lexus SUV.
He, therefore, called on members of the public to be on the lookout for the criminals and the exhibits and report them to security agencies.
He said, “We just rounded off our Security Council meeting where we discussed, among other things, the gruesome killing of our policemen—men of the Enugu State Police Command—by criminals suspected to be members of the ESN.
“Let me say this, this bestial and cold-blooded action cannot be condoned in Enugu State. I have given my directives to the security agencies that there must be no hiding place for these criminals in Enugu State. We must use everything necessary to hunt down, arrest, and bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous crime.
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“We have also placed a bounty of N10 million as a reward for anyone who has any useful information that will lead to the arrest of these criminals.
“So, I enjoin members of the public to, please, come forward or call the police and other security agencies with any useful information that could lead to the arrest of these criminals.”
Mbah said his administration would.ensure that the ultimate sacrifice made by the policemen does not go in vain.
“Those who murdered our policemen, or indeed any member of our security agencies, may assume that they have triumphed in their evil acts. Let me inform them that we are going to come after them with everything we have.
“We are going to deploy all the necessary technology, all the necessary forces within our powers to track them, capture them, and defeat them. Enugu State, and indeed, with the support of the security agencies, we are going to make life uncomfortable for those who do not want to live in a decent society,” he stated.
In 2022, Enugu State Police Command launched a manhunt for the gunmen that killed five people, including three cops in the state. https://www.google.com/amp/s/punchng.com/manhunt-as-five-policemen-others-killed-in-enugu/
Meanwhile, the Enugu State Police Command, in a statement by the command’s spokesperson, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, said operatives of the command attached to Ogui Division had, on May 10, 2024, around 9.30pm, while conducting a stop-and-search along Presidential Road, suddenly came under attack by armed hoodlums.
He said that the command suspected the hoodlums to be members of IPOB/ESN criminal elements, who operated in three SUV jeeps.
“The operatives returned fire, forcing the hoodlums to escape with varying degrees of gunshot wounds and abandoning a recovered Lexus RX 300 jeep with Reg. No. KTU 991 FD.
“However, two of the operatives sustained gunshot injuries in the ensuing gun duel and were taken to the hospital for medical treatment,” he said.
Ndukwe said that the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Kanayo Uzuegbu, had ordered massive deployment of the command’s operational, tactical, and intelligence resources to sustain the ongoing operations to hunt down and bring the criminal elements to book.
