Police operatives Friday repelled an attack by suspected gunmen on the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) office at Orlu in Imo State, South East Nigeria.
The hoodlums suspected to be members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed affiliate Eastern Security Network (ESN) stormed the Commission’s office around 4.30 pm scaling the fence into the premises.
The Imo State Police Command spokesman, CSP Michael Abattam, has confirmed the incident, saying: “The gunmen suspected to be IPOB/ESN members threw Improvised Explosive Devices( IEDs) into the office from outside the fence shooting sporadically to fight their way into the office.”
He explained that the police operatives engaged the hoodlums in a gun duel and in the process, a number of them sustained bullet injuries.
“They were suppressed, having suffered a huge defeat, with a number of them sustaining various degrees of bullet wounds, they retreated into their vehicles and zoomed off but were given a hot chase by the operatives,” Abattam said.
He also confirmed that no life was lost and no arms/ammunition was carted away.
“The INEC main building was not affected by the explosives, only minor damage was done on the security post caused by the fire from the explosives which were put off immediately by the police operatives,” he said.
The State Police mouthpiece disclosed that the security is on trail of the fleeing suspects.
