Gunmen suspected to be members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra/Eastern Security Network attacked the Obowo Divisional Police headquarters in Imo on Monday.
CSP Michael Abattam, a spokesperson of Imo command stated in Owerri that the assailants approached the station from an ungoverned forest at the rear.
He added that they threw petrol bombs and Improvised Explosive Devices that fell on the transit camp behind the station and a parked vehicle.
“Police operatives and some of the Command’s Technical Teams engaged the hoodlums in a fierce gun duel preventing them from gaining entrance to the station.
“In the process, they forced the hoodlums into retreating into the forest with various degrees of bullet wounds.
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“The police operatives gave them a hot chase and while combing the bush, three undetonated explosives, four expended AK47 bullets and five live cartridges were recovered.
“Also recovered were 33 expended cartridges, two masks, one pump action gun and a motorised sawing machine,’’ Abattam stated.
He added that apart from the minimal damage to the transit camp and the vehicle, no life was lost.
He stated also that a police operative who sustained a minor gunshot injury had been treated.
The police spokesman added that Acting Commissioner of Police, DCP Maman Giwa, who visited the scene, commended the officers and men for repelling the attack.
Giwa appealed to Imo residents to continue to give the police timely and credible information about criminals and their activities and to report any person seen treating bullet wounds within the community to the nearest police station.
Meanwhile, a source in the community, who requested anonymity, said two persons were feared killed in the attack.
“The attack started around 2 a.m. and lasted for about three hours. We heard the sounds of various firearms and suspected dynamite during the attack.
“We do not know whether the assailants took away police weapons as they usually did,’’ he said.
Monday’s attack brought the number of police divisional headquarters attacked in Imo in March to four.
Earlier in the month, gunmen attacked Orsu, Oru East and Umuguma police divisional headquarters.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Is Anthony Odiong still a priest after life in prison sentence over rape?")