By Gabriel Atumeyi
365Daily – On Thursday, 25 February 2021, suspected hoodlums attacked a police station in Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State. The gun battle that ensued between them and the policemen on duty at the station, left a police woman with gunshot injury.
According to the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, of the state, Orlando Ikekwo, the affected police station was recently renovated after it was burnt down during the EndSARS protests that rocked the country in October last year.
Speaking on the incident, he said, “Today being 25th February, 2021, at about 7 pm, some yet to be identified hoodlums in four vehicles, attacked the Divisional Police Headquarters, Aboh Mbaise, shooting sporadically.
”The officers on duty engaged them in a gun duel, at the end of the melee, one Police woman sustained gunshot injury and has been taken to the hospital for treatment.”
Imo, like many other states in the South East and South South region, has been experiencing frequent attacks on police personnel and facilities. On February 5, 2021, suspected gunmen in a night attack at Obowo Divisional Police Headquarters, located at Umulowe area of Imo State, killed two police officers who were on duty. The hoodlums also injured three other cops who repelled them from gaining access into the headquarters.
One of the hoodlums was killed in the gun duel but his cohorts drove off with his corpse.
The Aboh Mbaise attack occurred barely three days after three policemen were killed by gunmen in an attack on a zoological garden in Edo State during a kidnap operation where the Managing Director of the garden was whisked away.
The three police officers on duty at the garden when they attacked.
Similarly, on Wednesday February 24, 2021, a day before the Imo attack, four policemen were reportedly attacked and killed at Nkpologwu, Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State, by unknown gunmen and their rifles taken away.
They were killed at a checkpoint in the community and the police patrol vehicle at the checkpoint was set ablaze by the assailants.
According to the Anambra Police Public Relations Officer, Mohammed Haruna, the gunmen, who drove in both a salon car and a black Mercedes Benz 4matic SUV, opened fire on the policemen deployed to patrol the location.
A day before that, February 23, suspected hoodlums attacked a police station at Abayi, Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area, close to Aba.
The heavily armed gunmen reportedly stormed the station around 2:00 pm and burnt down the building.
Also early in that month, February 1 precisely, suspected gunmen attacked Umuoba Police Station in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area of Abia State and killed a police inspector.
The attack was carried out around 3:00 am. In the attack, the police station was razed and operational vans were burnt as well.
In Calabar, Cross River State, four Police officers, two Inspectors and two Sergeants were shot dead by hoodlums on Thursday, February 25, this year.
The Police officers were shot along MCC by Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Bypass in Calabar Municipal Local Government Area.
Sources said the incident which took place at a checkpoint at about 12 midnight was perpetuated byy a group of hoodlums who are now at large.
An eye witness said, “I stay just 100 metres away from the Police Checkpoint where the incident happened. I finished watering my garden of vegetables at about 11:00pm and went to bed at about 12:50am, then I started hearing gunshots.
“It lasted for a few minutes and more than the usual because they usually shoot in the air at night as a way to show they were on guard. When we woke up this morning, that was when we realised that four police have been killed and two rifles carted away.
One week later, on March 3, 2021, gunmen struck again in the state, attacking two communities in Obubra Local Government Area and killing two policemen.
According to the State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Irene Ugbo, the two policemen’s guns were stolen by the hoodlums.
In neighbouring Akwa Ibom State, on Monday February 18, some hoodlums attacked and killed two policemen in Essien Udim Local Government Area. The criminals also razed down a Hilux van the policemen were riding in.
One of the policemen was reportedly burnt beyond recognition while it remains unclear how the other policeman was killed. The assailants reportedly carted away three police rifles.
According to reports, a police station was also recently attacked twice in the area while a policeman sustained machete wounds as property were destroyed by the attackers.
Delta State, in the South South region, has also become notorious for attacks on police.
On Wednesday, February 02, 2021, suspected armed robbers attacked a bullion van at Ubulu-Okiti axis of Asaba-Benin Express Road, killing a police officer and two others.
Sources disclosed that the gunmen succeeded in robbing the bullion van after overpowering the police escorts attached to it.
Also in Delta State, in the same month of February, precisely on the 7th, a mobile police officer was shot dead by some gunmen in Warri area.
According to the State Police Spokesperson, Onome Onovwakpoyeya, the officer was walking with someone along the road close to the Nigeria Port Authority, Warri, when his assailants opened fire at him, took his rifle and fled.
On the previous night of Thursday, 6 February, hoodlums attacked Achiagu Police Division in Ezza North Local Government Area (LGA) of Ebonyi State, killing a policeman on duty and wounding many others.
The attack on the police station followed another in Isu, Onicha LGA of the state.
A section of the station was set ablaze by the hoodlums, as four patrol vehicles were also burnt.
DSP Loveth Odah, the State Police Spokesman, blamed the attack on Isu Police Division on members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Odah said the secessionist group had, prior to the attack, threatened the Police for protecting herdsmen who allegedly killed their member.
Though February was a brutal month for men of the Nigerian police, January was not much different.
On Sunday, 10 January, 2021, unknown gunmen killed three policemen in Ughelli area of Delta State in the night. The police officers were identified as Insp. Simon Madaki, Insp. Mutari Lawal and Sgt. Adamu Ibraham. They were transferred from Mopol 47, Zaria, Kaduna, a year ago.
The cops, according to a source, were taken unawares at a popular fast food joint in Ughelli, known as Wakyz, where they provided security. They were shot at close range.
Ughelli town and environs have been under siege in the last three months due to the unending clashes between rival cult groups that have led to the death of nine persons.
Also on Thursday, 7 January, hoodlums attacked a police station in Ebonyi State, killing three policemen.
Two others sustained bullet wounds in the attack on Onueke Police Station in Ezza South Local Government Area of the state.
It was gathered that the hoodlums attacked the police station in the night. The slain officers comprised two male inspectors and one woman who was killed in her office. Two AK-47 rifles were taken away by the assailants.
In recent times, there have been reported cases of cult clashes in Onueke, the location of the incident.
Similarly, on 29 January, 2021, hoodlums numbering about 30 attacked a police station at Mapo area of Ibadan, Oyo State, where they set free two suspects from custody.
The most recent of these attacks occurred in flashpoint areas like Anambra, Imo and even in Bauchi State. On Sunday, 14 March, 2021, in Bauchi State, one police inspector and a young man were shot and killed by unknown assailants suspected to be hoodlums at Nabordo Village, about 50 kilometres from Bauchi, the state capital.
According to sources, the hoodlums attacked a Safer Highway police base, killed the police inspector and a 33-year old man in Nabordo, located along Bauchi-Jos road, in Toro local government area of the state.
Similarly, on Thursday, 18 March, gunmen attacked a police patrol team along the Nimo-Neni link road in Anoocha Local Government Area of Anambra, leaving one personnel dead.
A source alleged that three policemen were killed after which their rifles were carted away by the gunmen who set the police patrol vehicle ablaze.
But the Police Command in Anambra said only one officer was confirmed dead at an undisclosed hospital.
In a related incident, on Saturday, 20 March, unknown gunmen again struck in Imo State, this time attacking the Divisional Police station in Umuelemai in Isiala Mbano Local Government Area where they collected some riffles before leaving.
The attack reportedly happened around 7:56 pm, when the armed men drove to the Secretariat in Ihitte Uboma Local Government Area of the state and shot sporadically in the air.
According to sources, some of the hoodlums were wearing red berets and black attires, while others wore jean trousers and were shouting ” We owe the land. This is our land they must leave and we will rule our land by ourselves.”
The source also disclosed that police officers ran for their lives and hid somewhere until the boys finished their operation.
In Mgbakwu, Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State, on Sunday, 21 March, 2021, gunmen again attacked a police station where they carted away some arms and ammunition.
This brought to four, police stations attacked in similar circumstances within a week in the state.
Anambra State, for two weeks running, has been under attacks by gun-bearing hoodlum.
No fewer than six policemen, four naval officers, two prison warders and others have been killed in the siege.
Speaking on the development on Sunday, Governor Willie Obiano said that the state government has resolved and is determined to deal with the emanating attempt to subvert public order by targeted attacks on police, Navy and prison officers across the state.
According to him, such attacks were the orchestration of a few bad elements and that citizens and communities should brace themselves and support the efforts of the government.
While attacks on police personnel and police formations are not new in the country, especially since that was also the signature of the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram, 2020 saw an escalation of such attacks on police facilities, particularly in the shadows of the EndSARS protest, which was a mass movement against police brutality that rocked the nation.
Between October when the protest took place and December, a large number of attacks against the police has been witnessed in states like Ebonyi, Delta, Imo, Rivers and even Lagos.
In some states like Rivers, Ebonyi and Imo, the authorities have been quick to finger the IPOB or their affiliates for being behind the attacks.
365Daily gathered that policemen in many of these states have devised means of protecting themselves from the attacks. It was learnt that they no longer report for duty with uniforms for fear of being killed or taken by surprise.
While regional groups and other stakeholders have been condemning this onslaught on the law enforcement agencies, the attacks show no sign of abetting.
Speaking to 365Daily, an Ex-Attorney General of Nasarawa State, Mr Innocent Lagi, said the police was still reeling from deficit trust, hence the temerity of the attackers.
He said, “Any thinking Nigerian, without thinking much, believes that the police has relegated its functions and responsibilities. That is why we have the military waging war in the country, doing things the police are supposed to do.
“So if you look at things practically and honestly, the police is losing its credibility, because the deployment of the military to deal with policing problem is the major cause of the decline in respect and relevance of police within the community and secondly, it is the abdication of their responsibility as policemen and turning to extortion by force that has turned the citizens against them,” Lagi stated.
Also speaking to 365Daily, Muyiwa Olede, who is the Executive Director of Citizens Awareness Against Corruption And Social Vices Initiative (CAACASVI), said the government failed to deal with the EndSARS crisis comprehensively, so what we are witnessing is a fall out from the event.
“To curtail the aftermath of the EndSARS crisis, the government was supposed to come out with a comprehensive report and strategy that would help them curtail the aftermath which we are seeing now.
“When people don’t get justice, they tend to look for other means to achieve their ends, even if they are going to be consumed. Our security apparatus is overstretched, so we don’t have the man power to curtail whatever is coming. Maybe it is time the government invested in artificial intelligence in the security apparatus.”
For Jide Ojo, a development expert and political commentator, it is a very dangerous trend as more and more territories and precinct fall into lawlessness which may lead to the enthronement of wholesale criminality.
He said, “There is a grievance many Nigerians have for police, particularly after the EndSARS protest of October 2020. It is a very dangerous trend which needs to be curbed early enough because what it means is that we don’t have enough men on ground to ensure security of life and properties.
“So the attacks shows that undesirable elements are planning to create fear and take over so that they can perpetrate their vicious cycle of violence and criminality. So it is for the National Security Adviser and all the security agencies to do what needs to be done to checkmate the situation before it becomes a nationwide thing.
But speaking to 365Daily, the spokesperson of the Abia State Police Command, CSP Geoffrey Ogbonna, said the command was strong and successful in policing the state.
“Nothing is happening in my state. It is peaceful. The incident that happened is belated, I don’t need to refresh it. But our people are up and ready even before the attack,” Ogbonna said.