By Williams Anuku, Abuja
Joseph Mukan, the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, has decried the wave of attacks meted out on Police officers, including security facilities by persons suspected to be members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
The Commissioner also alleged that the hoodlums yesterday, hide under the #EndSARS protest to perpetrate these acts, setting three police stations ablaze.
In a report detailing the attacks on security facilities in the state, he said, three Police Stations in Rivers State came under attack yesterday 21/10/2020 at about 2130hrs when hoodlums numbering about 500 suspected to be members of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) invaded the Oyigbo Area Command, Oyigbo, and Afam Police Stations, setting them ablaze and damaging about fifteen vehicles including one Armored Personnel Carrier (APC).
Mukan said in the wake of the attack, two Police Officers were killed and some arms and ammunition carted away by the hoodlums.
He lamented that in another attack at the Mile one Police Station, the same rampaging IPOB members who operated under the guise of #ENDSARS Protests made a frantic attempt at burning the Mile One Police Station and the office of Eagle Crack Squad but were however repelled by the superior firepower of the Police, as three of them were fatally wounded in the exchange of gunfire, while eight of them were arrested and immediately transferred to State CID where they are currently helping in our investigation.
He said they have been able to stabilize the Command, though there are still pockets of threats from their remnants at the fringe communities in Oyigbo Local Government Area no stone will be left unturned till they are arrested and brought to justice.
He, therefore, appealed to the good people of Rivers State to remain calm and religiously obey the curfew imposed by the State Government which may though have its attendant inconveniences but however made in good faith and in the overall interest of the citizenry.
“So far adequate deployments have been made to cover all the flashpoints and ensure that the hoodlums are kept at arm’s length while appealing to parents and guardians to warn their children to remain law-abiding or else the full weight of the law will be brought to bear on them.
“Rivers State has in recent times enjoyed fragile peace which we are poised to sustain. For all intents and purposes, the State is bigger than anybody or group, hence we must all strive to entrench lasting peace in the State. The #ENDSARS protests and the Consequential Demands are being addressed by both the Federal and State Governments, therefore, any attempt to undermine the security of the State will be resisted.
The constitutional duty of the Police to protect lives and property is sacrosanct and must be carried out in a most professional manner, “the Police Boss noted.