The Akwa Ibom Police Command has confirmed the killing of two armed robbery suspects at Ifuho Village in Ikot Ekpene by operatives from the command.
The command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Odiko MacDon, stated this in a statement made available to newsmen in Uyo on Friday.
MacDon stated that the command got a distress call around 12.30 pm on Thursday that the suspects allegedly attacked and attempted to rob their victims of their valuables.
He said that the command responded swiftly to the call, leading to the shooting to death of the suspects during a gun-battle with them.
He stated: “On Oct. 8, at about 1230hrs, in response to a distress call, operatives of Ikot Ekpene Division, supervised by its DPO, SP Joshua Benjamin, proceeded to Ifuho Village in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area, where some bandits were operating.
“On sighting the police van, the hoodlums opened fire on the operatives, leading to a gun duel.
“While some of the hoodlums escaped through a nearby bush with possible gun shot wounds, two others were hit by bullets.
“They were taken to the police clinic, Ikot Ekpene, where they were confirmed dead.”
MacDon further stated the police recovered one locally made pistol, two live cartridges, one expended cartridge, one black Qlink motorcycle and GSM phones and some charms at the scene of the incident.
He stated that one of the robbers, identified as “Ebube”, was one of the inmates, who recently escaped during a jail break in Ikot Ekpene.
MacDon alleged that Ebube was a notorious gang leader, who had regularly terrorised residents of Ikot Ekpene, Essien Udim and its environs.
“In a follow-up operation, operatives of the division arrested one Felix Nsikak, in connection with the robbery and five phones were recovered from him,” he stated.
The command’s spokesman stated that investigation into the matter had commenced to determine the level of Nsikak’s involvement in the crime.
He added that efforts were ongoing to arrest other fleeing members of the gang.
Meanwhile, the command has denied the rumour about a bank robbery at Udo Udoma Banking Layout on Thursday.
MacDon stated that the command responded to a distress call on the alleged bank robbery but discovered it was a false alarm.
“The command wishes to warn mischief makers and peddlers of false information to desist forthwith or have the law to contend with,” he stated.
He stated that the Commissioner of Police, Andrew Amiengheme, had warned criminal elements to either relocate from the state or be ready to bear the consequences of their criminality.
