Two suspects arrested over attack on security personnel

The police command in Anambra State says it has arrested two suspects allegedly involved in the recent attack on police and military personnel in Enugwu-Agu, Oba-Ofemili, Awka-North Local Government Area of the state.

Tochukwu Ikenga, the police spokesperson in Anambra, disclosed this in a statement issued Tuesday in Awka.

Mr Ikenga, a superintendent of police, said the attack led to the burning of an army operation vehicle.

He explained that the arrest of the suspects followed a diligent investigation by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad Awkuzu, adding that they were arrested on 2 May.

He said the suspects, both males, aged 35 and 32, have confessed to their involvement in the crime and provided useful information on other persons involved in it.

“The disturbing incident occurred on 13 April, where some armed individuals attacked the security operatives and some stakeholders of the community,” he said.

The police spokesperson quoted the Commissioner of Police in the state, Ikioye Orutugu as saying that the attack on the security personnel was a grave and deliberate act to test the will of the security agencies and an “attack on the soul of the nation”.

Mr Orutugu commended the gallantry and professionalism of the security operatives in managing the situation, as no life was lost.

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He charged the operatives to expand the scope of their investigation for the possible arrest of other fleeing suspects and stressed the need for collective action to protect those who safeguard the nation.

Anambra, like other states in the South-east of Nigeria, has been plagued by insecurity, which is often linked to the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

IPOB is a group leading agitation for an independent state of Biafra which it wants carved out from the South-east and some parts of the South-south Nigeria.

For several years, Nigeria’s security operatives, mainly the army and the police, have been engaging IPOB fighters in fierce battles to suppress their secessionist agitation.

(NAN)