No fewer than 48 persons were arrested by the anti-
robbery squad of the Imo State Police Command at Umuhu community in Ngor-
Okpala Council Area of the State in the early hours of yesterday, after the
murder of a Customs officer.
It was gathered that, at about 9 pm on Tuesday, Customs officers who were
relaxing inside their checkpoint tent opposite the Federal Road Safety
Commission (FRSC) office at Mbutu Okoahia in Umuhu community, were attacked by
yet-to-be identified assailants who hacked one of them to death.
A reliable source in the community report that the late Customs officer had gone to the back of the tent to find out why their power generating set stopped abruptly, unknown to him and his colleagues that the assailants, who apparently disrupted their power supply, were lying in wait in the nearby bush.
According to the source, the deceased was attacked with an axe and his loud cry attracted his colleagues, who rushed to the scene and were attacked with matchets and axe .
Though the other two officers escaped with serious injuries, the first victim, an indigene of Akwa Ibom State, died instantly.
Confirming the attack on the Customs men, an official of the FRSC, who pleaded anonymity, said the murdered Customs officer was stabbed on the back by his attackers.
When contacted, the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Taiwo Lakanu, said shortly after the attack, a crack team of the special anti- robbery squad was deployed to the community to comb for the assailants,adding that the hoodlums also stole two service pistols belonging to the attacked Customs officers.
He said those who have been arrested would be interrogated and if not found culpable, would be released, assuring that the police had spread its dragnet wide to arrest those behind the attack.
Meanwhile, most villagers had deserted their homes for fear of being arrested.
A reliable source in the community report that the late Customs officer had gone to the back of the tent to find out why their power generating set stopped abruptly, unknown to him and his colleagues that the assailants, who apparently disrupted their power supply, were lying in wait in the nearby bush.
According to the source, the deceased was attacked with an axe and his loud cry attracted his colleagues, who rushed to the scene and were attacked with matchets and axe .
Though the other two officers escaped with serious injuries, the first victim, an indigene of Akwa Ibom State, died instantly.
Confirming the attack on the Customs men, an official of the FRSC, who pleaded anonymity, said the murdered Customs officer was stabbed on the back by his attackers.
When contacted, the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Taiwo Lakanu, said shortly after the attack, a crack team of the special anti- robbery squad was deployed to the community to comb for the assailants,adding that the hoodlums also stole two service pistols belonging to the attacked Customs officers.
He said those who have been arrested would be interrogated and if not found culpable, would be released, assuring that the police had spread its dragnet wide to arrest those behind the attack.
Meanwhile, most villagers had deserted their homes for fear of being arrested.
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