In the first incident, around 8:00 a.m., about 20 armed hoodlums ambushed personnel of the 70 PMF Kabba Mine, attached to the Isanlu Area Command, at their patrol point along Ilafin-Odogbe Road in Yagba East Local Government Area.
Kogi State Police Command has placed all formations on red alert following two deadly attacks on police personnel on Sunday, resulting in the deaths of three officers and the theft of firearms.
In the first incident, around 8:00 a.m., about 20 armed hoodlums ambushed personnel of the 70 PMF Kabba Mine, attached to the Isanlu Area Command, at their patrol point along Ilafin-Odogbe Road in Yagba East Local Government Area.
During the attack, ASP Umar Suleman (AP/No. 199088, F/No. 518320) and CPL Bitrus Isaac were shot dead. The assailants also made away with two AK-47 rifles (Breech Nos. 354313 and 524085), each loaded with 28 rounds of 7.62x39mm ammunition.
“ACPOL Isanlu mobilised patrol teams to the scene. Corpses were evacuated to General Hospital Mortuary for autopsy while intelligence gathering, surveillance, and bush combing are ongoing with joint security forces to track hoodlums for possible arrest. Recovery of stolen arms/ammunition is in progress,” the report said.
The report added that the supervising officer has been issued a query for violating the Inspector General of Police’s directives on the closure of isolated nipping points.
In a second attack, at about 11:30 a.m., personnel of the 37 PMF attached to Abugi Community were ambushed while returning to camp after duty.
Inspector Johnson David (AP/No. 219236) and Inspector Ehinola Oluwole (AP/No. 242574) were shot dead on the spot, and their service rifles, TO6 (Breech No. 07009207) and AK-47 (Breech No. 4014086), both loaded with 30 rounds of ammunition, were stolen. A civilian passerby, Isah Gilad ‘M’ of Abugi, was also killed during the attack.
“The scene was visited, photographs taken, and corpses evacuated to Federal Teaching Hospital Lokoja Mortuary for autopsy. Efforts are in top gear to track hoodlums’ hideouts for possible arrest and recovery of stolen arms/ammunition,” the report stated.
Following the twin attacks, the Kogi State Police Command has placed all formations on red alert and directed officers to remain vigilant.
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