Ben Dunno, Warri
Leader of a dreaded armed robbery gang, simply identified as Kenneth popularly known as ‘Okponchi’ that specialises in attacking and killing of policemen either on patrol or at various check points across the state and dispossessing them of their service rifles had been shot dead by the police, in Delta State.
Delta State Police Commissioner, CP Muhammad Mustafa, who disclosed this to Daily Sun in Warri, on Wednesday, noted that the decreased suspect who had been on the wanted list of the police for some times now was shot at while attempting to escape from the detention.
Explaining the circumstances if his death in a statement made available to our Correspondent in Warri, the police boss stated that suspect after being arrested and detained at the ‘A Division’ Police station attempted to escape unknown to him that he was under close monitoring by his men who shot at him while attempting to scale the fence.
According to him, “Yesterday at about 10;13p.m, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) ‘C Division’, Asaba, CSP Anietie Eyoh, arrested one suspected armed robber at Effurun axis with AK 47 rifle and took him to A Division in Warri GRA for detention”.
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“When the suspect attempted to escape at the front of ‘A’ Division when he was about being detained, he was demobilized, maimed and rearrested but in the process suspect sustained gunshot wounds and was rushed to the Central hospital where he was confirmed dead by a medical doctor.
“His corpse had since been deposited at the mortuary of the same general hospital”.
It would be recalled that the men and officers under the Delta state police command who were on official patrol assignment or at checkpoints in parts of the state, especially within the Asaba axis, had come under severe attacks by members of a notorious armed robbery gang.
The unsuspecting policemen were usually inflicted with severe machetes injuries or shot at a close range before their service rifles were taken away.
This ugly development had been a cause of concern to the high command of the police who had ordered ‘massive defense and massive attack’ operations across the state to curb the ugly menace.