Gunmen throw bomb into Imo police facility

Gunmen throw bomb into Imo police facility

No life was lost during the attack, but the improvised bomb caused “minimal damage” to the police facility, according to the police.

Some gunmen Thursday attacked a police facility in Imo State, Nigeria’s South-east.

The police spokesperson in Imo, Mike Abattam, who confirmed the attack in a statement on Thursday, said the incident occurred in the early hours of the day at Ideato South Police Station.

The gunmen were “shooting sporadically, and threw Improvised Explosive Devices into the station,” said Mr Abattam, a Chief Superintendent of Police.

“The hoodlums were immediately repelled by the command’s tactical team and the police operatives of the division and in the ensuing gun duel, the hoodlums were overwhelmed by the superior fire-power of the police,” the police spokesperson said.

He said no life was lost during the attack, but that the improvised bomb caused “minimal damage” to the police facility.

Imo and other states in the South-east have witnessed several deadly attacks on the police and other public institutions. The attacks are linked most times to the pro-Biafra group, IPOB.

Imo is regarded as the epicentre of IPOB’s activities in the region.

The Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma’s country home in Imo was attacked with petrol bombs in April, last year, by gunmen suspected to be members of IPOB.

A former political adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan, Ahmed Gulak, was shot dead in Owerri in May.

A police inspector and six others were killed in the state in August.

Six of the victims were working with a services company, Lee Engineering Company, which has a contract with Shell Petroleum Development Company, according to the police.

Their convoy was ambushed while they were travelling to a facility belonging to Shell.

In one of the deadliest attacks last year in Imo, gunmen killed five police officers and abducted one in April.

The gunmen, most times, loot the armoury and free detained suspects during attacks on police facilities.

Military operations in the state in response to deadly attacks have also resulted in some killings and destruction of properties.

Governor Uzodinma recently pledged to name those he claimed were sponsors of the insecurity in the state, but he backtracked, saying he would rather leave security agencies “to do their work” and prosecute those found culpable.