‘Use your rifles to defend yourselves’ Imo Governor tells police

Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, on Tuesday, called on the operatives of the state police command to defend themselves against criminal elements within the state.

The governor spoke at the command headquarters when the Inspector General of Police, Muhammed Adamu, visited the state to assess the level of damage done on the police facility by unknown gunmen on Monday.

The governor said, “If you can’t attack them, you can at least use your rifles to defend yourselves. Any attack on police formation is an insult to us as a government. It is also an attack on the integrity of the government. We must take charge, take control and ensure discipline.”

Earlier, the Governor had accused Criminal elements claiming to be members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), had attacked the Imo State Police headquarters and Owerri Correctional Services Centre with various degrees of dangerous weapons, destroying buildings, vehicles and other sensitive official materials and unlawfully setting free over 1500 inmates.

However, the IGP has accused IPOB’s Eastern Security Network operatives of being the masterminds of the attack.