Imo LGA Shut Down over Killing of Police Officers

Tony Icheku in Owerri

The killing of two police officers last Monday has led to complete clamp down on trading and other business activities as well as partial restriction of movement at the Ahiara junction, the commercial nerve centre of Ahiazu Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State, as military and police operatives lay siege on the area.

Residents of the area told THISDAY yesterday that the killing of the police officers attracted heavy retribution from the police as over 20 motorcycles used by youths in the area for transportation were confiscated and set ablaze, while a POS operator was reportedly shot dead. Several people were also rounded up and arrested by the police.

The only vehicular movements allowed were vehicles passing from Owerri to Umuahia, while none was allowed within the Ahiara junction axis where the incident took place. As at yesterday morning, there was still total clampdown on business activities as shops and other business centres were still closed.

 The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Henry Okoye, had on Tuesday in a post on his X social media platform explained the heavy police and military presence around the area, saying: å“Today, November 28, 2023, the state Commissioner of Police, Aboki Danjuma; the 34 Artillery Brigade Commander, Brigadier General UA Lawal, and operatives of the state’s Special Task Force comprising the military and police embarked on an ongoing intensive confidence building patrol and ‘operation restore peace ‘in Ahiara, in Ahaizu-Mbaise LGA of Imo State.”

He added that the Command is highly committed to collaborating with the military and other sister security agencies for a safer, secured and more prosperous Imo State.

 Okoye declined to comment on progress made in the investigation of the killings. He had last Monday stated that the state Commissioner of Police has deployed the Command’s Special Tactical Squad and equipped them with the necessary operational assets to go all out in collaboration with the Military and hunt down the hoodlums responsible for the attack and killing of the DPO in charge of Ahiazu Mbaise and a Inspector of Police.

The incident took place at BOEK Petrol Station at Ahiara Junction when the officers were reportedly fueling their operational vehicles.

According to Okoye, the hoodlums, dressed in military camouflage and black/red regalia, swooped on them with three vehicles and motorcycles and started firing sporadically leading to the death of the two officers and a civilian.