Police dislodges criminals enforcing sit-at-home in Enugu

Police operatives in Enugu on Friday dislodged a group of criminals enforcing the sit-at-home order in the state.

A splinter group of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) led by Finland-based Simon Ekpa had last week ordered a five-day sit-at-home in the South-East.

The government has however directed the residents to ignore the order and go about their lawful businesses.

The spokesman for the state police command, Daniel Ndukwe, who confirmed the development in a statement in Enugu, said some of the hoodlums were wounded during the operation.

He added that one AK-47 rifle loaded with 19 rounds of live 7.62 calibre ammunition, two bottles of petrol bomb, one hammer, one plier, and one Jack-knife were recovered from the criminals.

Also recovered were a pair of blood-stained canvass abandoned by one of the criminals, fetish objects, a mobile phone, three criminal hoods, one hooded long sleeve, and other items.

READ ALSO: Police arrests two herbalists, 13 others enforcing sit-at-home in Ebonyi

Ndukwe said the hoodlums were out to enforce the sit-at-home order, but were overpowered by police operatives at One-Day Junction along Agbani Road in Enugu.

The spokesman said: “The gallant and eagle-eyed operatives engaged the miscreants in a gun duel, forcing them to abandon the vehicle and narrowly escape with varying degrees of fatal gunshot wounds, due to the superior firepower of the operatives.

“An intense manhunt for the hoodlums is ongoing; while the vehicle, with copious blood stains on the seats and other items therein, was recovered among other incriminating items.”

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