The Imo State Police Command has confirmed the shooting of five persons in Okporo Orlu in Orlu Local Government of Imo State, with three of them dead and two.
The Command confirmed the development in a statement issued on Sunday by its spokesman, CSP Michael Abattam.
He said that armed bandits operating in a red Toyota Sienna vehicle without a registration number attacked and shot five persons and drove off almost immediately to an unknown destination in Umuebele Okporo in Orlu, Imo State.
Abattam said the Command’s Commissioner, Mohammed Ahmed Barde, has immediately dispatched the Command’s Tactical Teams to the area
He said preliminary investigation revealed that the people were having a meeting in front of their compound when suddenly some yet-to-be-identified gunmen stormed the venue, shot at them severally and zoomed off almost immediately to an unknown destination.
He confirmed that three people died on the spot, while two others sustained various degrees of bullet wounds and were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.
He said that the corpses were later recovered and deposited in the mortuary.
Abattam said that an investigation is ongoing adding that the community and its environs have been fortified with more security personnel.
He said that the command is working in collaboration with other security agencies to ensure that the perpetrators of this dastardly act are arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law.
According to him, the Commissioner of Police has commended the Okporo community for their steadfastness and support and assured them of the Command’s commitment to ensuring that terrorism and other violent crimes are brought to their barest minimum in the state.
He appealed to Imo people to go about their lawful businesses without fear or molestation as calm has been restored in the community.