…injure DPO, policemen, steal seven AK47 rifles
Hoodlums hiding under the #EndSARS 2 protest have attacked Noyo Police Station in Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. The attackers burnt a police patrol van and stole seven AK47 rifles as well as other weapons.
This was as the state Commissioner of Police, Philip Maku, disclosed that hoodlums burnt 11 police structures across the state in the first phase of the EndSARS protest. He added that five policemen attached to the command were also killed by the hoodlums.
But in the Noyo Police attack which occurred on Monday evening, the hoodlums also destroyed some offices in the station and would have burnt it but for deployment of more policemen to the station. A senior police officer, who pleaded anonymity, told our correspondent that the DPO of the station was in trouble over the stolen seven AK47 rifles.
“The hoodlums attacked us in the night. They injured some of our men, including our DPO and carted away seven of our rifles after breaking our cell and armoury. They burnt our patrol van and set the station on fire,” the senior officer said. During a one-day visit by the Inspector- General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, the state Commissioner of Police, Maku, said 20 operational vehicles belonging to various police stations in the state were vandalised and burnt by hoodlums in the guise of ENDSARS protest. He noted that while five policemen attached to the command lost their lives, 14 of them sustained varying degrees of injury during the phase one of the EndSARS protest.
Maku listed some of the 11 burnt police stations as Central Police Station, Kpirikpiri Police Station, Ohaozara Police Station, Ekumenyi Police Station, Okposi and Ohaozara police stations, among others. Meanwhile, the Chairman of Ikwo Local Government Area, Stephen Orogwu, has condemned the attack on Noyo Police Station and called for full investigation into the attack. Orogwu made the call yesterday when he visited the scene to ascertain the level of destruction and attack on policemen on duty at the station. He said: “I came because of the distress calls I received last night over the attack on Noyo Police Station. I have gone round the station and saw the burnt vehicle.
I have seen their attempt to burn the main police building, and how they vandalised the offices. “I have done the assessment and I will report back to His Excellency, the Governor of Ebonyi State, Chief David Nweze Umahi, for his quick intervention on the matter. “I condemn the act and urge the security agents, the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) as well as the community vigilantes to do their job by giving a full investigation into the matter and bringing the perpetrators to book.” The chairman ordered the immediate transfer of the policemen at the station who sustained injuries during the attack to Alex Ekwueme Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, for proper medical attention. Orogwu promised to pay for their treatment. Responding, the DPO in charge of the station, Danjuma Dantata, thanked the chairman for his quick intervention. The DPO said the hoodlums attacked him, inflicted injuries on his men, burnt the patrol vehicle, set the station on fire, broke into the cell and armoury and made away with their rifles.
