Abia State Government, has cleared the air on the Monday morning raid by unknown gunmen in Aba, the commercial capital of the state, explaining that no security agent was killed during the attack.
Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, who confirmed the attack during a press conference on the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting in Umuahia, said the hoodlums operating in three vehicles stormed the commercial city, and were engaged by security agents.
The invaders were said to have been overpowered by the superior power arms of the security operatives leading to the death of one of the assailants on the spot.
One of their operating vehicles (a sienna) was said to have gone up in flames apparently following the gun duel that ensued between them and security agents.
Another vehicle a highlander jeep, belonging to the hoodlums, was abandoned and recovered by security operatives while the hoodlums who escaped with bullet wounds fled the scene in their third vehicle (a Lexus jeep).
The Information Commissioner accused disgruntled elements unhappy with the level of development driven by the Alex Otti-led administration, of masterminding the occasional attacks on security operatives in Aba.
He, however, disclosed that the Governor had given a marching order for the perpetrators to be mauled down, vowing that no part of the state will be a breeding ground for criminals.
” The State Government has zero tolerance for criminal activities, and will not allow anybody to destroy the modest gains of the Otti-led administration”, he vowed.
Responding to an inquiry on the number of casualties recorded during the attack, Special Adviser to the Governor on Security, Navy Commander Macdonald Ubah (retd.), said that besides the one hoodlum killed at the scene of the attack, another member of the criminal gang who escaped with bullet wounds was also reported dead.
He said the fleeing criminals were trailed to a bush on the Aba -Port Harcourt Expressway where they had gone to probably bury their dead colleague when they sighted security operatives and fled again.
The SA explained that apart from the two casualties from the attackers, no other casualties were so far recorded.
He said that Government had adopted a new approach in its determination to flush out criminal elements from the state.
Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Maureen Chilaka, had said that the police command was still gathering details of the incident, and would later issue a statement after its findings.
