…arms, charms, IPOB register recovered
ONYEDI GABRIEL, Port Harcourt
Four wounded gunmen and a nurse treating them at a hideout in Oyigbo Local Government Area, Rivers State, have been shot and killed in mysterious circumstances.
Sources earlier said that a tactical team of the Nigerian Police carried out the operation that killed the suspected gunmen.
The slain gunmen were reportedly being treated by the nurse identified simply as Chichi in a hidden area of Oyigbo when the squad surrounded the building and opened fire on them.
It was gathered that sensing danger, one of them on a drip attempted to escape by scaling the fence unknown to him that the area had been surrounded by armed policemen, who shot him dead.
The policemen subsequently gained access to the building and killed three others receiving treatments and the nurse was also hit by a bullet.
The victims were said to be among the gunmen who recently murdered seven policemen in surprise and coordinated attacks on security formations along the East-West Road and Elimgbu Police Station.
A security source said: “I can tell you that they are IPOB members. Five registration booklets of IPOB, many charms and some arms were recovered from them. You need to see their body, which was previously riddled by bullet. Though the bullets may not kill them because of their charms, the effects and the injuries will still show”.
But the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Friday Eboka, when contacted said the people, who carried out the act were not policemen.
Eboka said that before the District Police Officer in charge of the area and his men could get to the scene, the killers had concluded their mission and fled.
He noted that policemen, who rushed to the scene, only saw the five dead bodies and later recovered many charms.
He said: “That matter was reported at Oyibo police station. The people involved are not policemen. We heard that four of them were taking treatment in a clinic before the unknown armed men went there with two Hilux vans and a Sienna.
“They went there and people heard gunshots. Before police could get there the gunmen had entered their vehicle and drove away. The policemen found the dead bodies of the four guys and the young woman (nurse). I told the DPO to move those dead bodies while we investigate the matter.
“But, obviously, they are not policemen. If there must be an operation by police it must be reported at the nearest police station. The people that carried out the act are not policemen. They were unknown armed men and not policemen”.