Gunmen on Friday attacked a Police station in Eika-ohizenyi, a community in Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi State, killing one police officer on duty.
The gunmen reportedly bombed the station in a raid that lasted for about two hours, being the fourth of its kind in Kogi in the last few weeks.
Residents of the community who were thrown into panic, reported that the gunmen stormed the station at about 12 midnight, opened fire on the station and eventually brought it down with explosives.
The Police officer killed in the attack was identified as Inspector Jibril, fondly called Yellow.
The Kogi State Police Command has visited the scene of the attack for first hand information and investigation.
The Police Public Relations Officer, SP SP William Ovye Aya in a press statement issued on Friday said consequent upon the attacks at Okehi Area Command in the early hours on Friday the Commissioner of Police, Kogi State Police Command, CP Edward Egbuka, visited the scene for on-the-spot assessment.
He noted that he has equally ordered the deployment of additional operational assets consisting of Operatives of the Police Mobile Force, Counter Terrorism Unit, Quick Response Unit, State Intelligence Bureau in synergy with other security agencies to restore normalcy in the area.
He noted that part of the Area Command Office was razed by dynamite used by the attackers. A Police Inspector died in the exchange of fire with the hoodlums, before the Area Commander and a detachment of Military in the area reinforced to the scene of incident, and the attackers fled.
He said the Commissioner of Police has assured that the Command is committed to working in synergy with other security agencies as well as patriotic stakeholders to make the State a safe and secure place for all and sundry.
He has further tasked the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) to commence investigations into the unfortunate incident so as to unravel the remote and immediate cause of the attack with a view to bringing the perpetrators to book.
Meanwhile, a resident of the area Mallam Momoh Abubakar who also spoke on the situation with our correspondent said that the attackers invaded the station 12:15 a.m, saying the first bomb they threw into the station made heavy sound that woke many residents who were sleeping while the second bomb, according to him brought down part of the station’s building.
He added that the attackers had a field day as they operated for more than two hours without any interference either from security agents or the people of the community.
According to him, bullets perforated windows of Eika community central mosque and a Catholic church near the police station during the heavy attack.
“I am using this medium to appeal to security agents to be proactive and respond quickly to this type of incident because the gunmen spent more than two hours operating freely without any interference.
“The first attack of the station occurred on Friday and this second one which happened after five years also took place on Friday and to our surprise nobody has been arrested in connection to the attack.
“As I am talking to you now there is serious fear and apprehension in Eika community as people remained indoor for fear of being attacked by gunmen. We are appealing to government to beep its search light in this area because the attack is becoming unbearable” he said
Meanwhile, the corpse of the slain policeman has been taken to Obangede General hospital mortuary.
