Six gunmen said to be members of members of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) have been killed in a bloody gun duel with the police.
The gunmen were killed while attempting to burn down the Palace of Imo Chairman Council Of Traditional Rulers, His Royal Highness Eze Dr E. C Okeke at Orlu Local Government Area.
The tradional ruler had two weeks ago received the Brigade Commander of 34 Artillery Brigadier, Obinze, Brigadier General Sani Sulaiman at his Palace.
The hoodlums in their numbers were sighted in three Hilux vehicles shooting sporadically, fiercely advancing towards the Eze’s Palace to unleash mayhem, Police said.
CSP Michael Abattam, the public relations officer of Imo State Police Command said on receipt of the information, the Command’s Tactical Team joined by the military immediately mobilized and rushed to the palace.
“On their way, the hoodlums on sighting the combined team engaged them in a gun duel, throwing petrol bombs. The gallant team responded, positioning themselves professionally.
“In the exchange of gun fire that ensued, the hoodlums were overwhelmed due to the superior fire-power of the combined team and in the process, six of the hoodlums were neutralized while others escaped with various degrees of gunshot injuries.”
According to him, the operatives recovered one pump action gun, three blood stained cutlasses and three Hilux Vehicles suspected to have been snatched from innocent citizens.
He said calm has been restored in the area and the corpses of the neutralized bandits removed and deposited in the mortuary.
