Gunmen who killed a former presidential aide, Ahmed Gulak met their Waterloo on Sunday while distributing a trailer of onions which they seized to locals.
They were met by the police sharing the onions when a gun-battle ensued, leading to the death of 10 of them.
Bala Elkana, spokesman, Imo State Police Command, said the Police Special Forces made up of Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Police Mobile Force (PMF) and Tactical Units from the command were deployed to the scene of the murder of Gulak at Obiangwu Junction at Ngorokpala LGA of Imo state.
He said while on the trail of the gunmen, they found them sharing onions to locals and that on sighting the police, they opened fire on them.
“Having established the identity of the assailants and the description of the vehicles used in carrying out the attack, the teams further got details of the direction the hoodlums have taken. With further leads, the team was able to establish the location of suspects.
“The suspects were rounded up at Afor Enyiogugu junction in Aboh-Mbaise Local Government Area. The hoodlums were met distributing onions to locals from a trailer they confiscated. The trailer was loaded with Onions from the Northern region of Nigeria.
“On sighting the Police, the hoodlums providing security coverage to those sharing the onions opened fire on the Police teams. The Gallant and battle ready Police Officers swiftly returned the fire. The six hoodlums who carried out the killings and four other members of their gang were fatally injured. Three out of the four vehicles used in attacking Gulak were recovered,” Elkana said in a statement.
Elkana disclosed that three AK 47 Rifles, one pistol, five AK 47 magazines with 92 rounds of live ammunition and criminal charms were recovered.
He said the assailants were identified as members of the proscribed IPOB and ESN.
“The driver who drove late Ahmed Gulak and a co- victim who survived have all identified the dead body of the IPOB/ESN members positively as their attackers and also identified the three vehicles recovered as those used by the attackers. During the encounter, two of the police armored personnel carriers (APC) were riddled with bullets but survived the gun battle,” he added.
