The Nigerian Army, 34 Artillery Brigade, Obinze, Owerri and the Imp State Police Command have dismissed social media reports of a clash between operatives of the two security agencies.
The two security agencies spoke in a joint statement they issued on Sunday in Owerri, the Imo State capital.
The statement was signed by the Acting Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, Captain Joseph Akubo, and the Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Michael Abattam.
According to the release, there was no gun duel between personnel of the two agencies and any report to that effect remains false, malicious and a product of the imagination of criminals.
It said that law enforcement and security agencies in Imo State would continue to synergise so as to bring to book all criminals and halt their activities in the state.
It also called on Imo residents to ignore any sit-at-home order by any outlawed groups adding that security agencies would never get tired of protecting lives and property of the people.
The statement said: “Please disregard as false the report making the rounds on some online media platforms of a gun duel between the personnel of the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Police in Owerri.
“No stone will be left unturned in ensuring that law abiding citizens live in a conducive environment and carry out their daily routine without fear or intimidation by miscreants.
“We therefore call on all law abiding citizens to ignore the illegal Monday sit at home call by the proscribed and irredentist Indigenous People of Biafra and its affiliate criminal group, the Eastern Security Network ESN.
“All security agencies in the state will continue to discharge their constitutional mandate and ensure that lives and property are well protected.”
