Operatives of the Imo State Command of the Nigeria Police during a fierce gun battle, have killed a notorious armed robber terrorizing the area.
The armed robber, identified as Bugatti was killed in the Nsu forest of Imo forest as confirmed in a statement on Saturday by the Imo Police spokesperson CSP Mike Abattam on behalf of the state Commissioner of Police, Rabiu Hussaini.
The statement disclosed that the killed criminal was responsible for many deadly crimes in the state and had been on the wanted list of the Police for a long time.
Apart from the gang leader, the Police further disclosed that two of the gang members escaped after sustaining gunshot wounds during the encounter.
A revolver pistol said to have been stolen from the Police armoury during the #EndSARS saga was also recovered from the battle.
The statement also commended local vigilantes in the state from Nsu community for providing useful information that led to the taking down of the criminal gang.
“Following information received by the vigilante group of Nsu community on Aug. 20, 2021 at about 1420 hours, one of the notorious leaders of an armed robbery gang who is on the wanted list of the community was sighted in the community.
“The community’s vigilante group that has been working in synergy with the police immediately alerted the police patrol team in the area and the team moved to where the suspect and his gang members were hiding in the bush,” the statement said.
“On sighting the security men, they opened fire and during the gun duel, the leader of the group, `Bugatti’, was neutralized and his gun recovered and taken to the station, while the other two suspects escaped with bullet wounds.
“When the revolver was checked, it was discovered that it was one of the police revolvers that were carted away during the #ENDSARS saga, when the Police Area Command Headquarters at Ehime Mbano was attacked by hoodlums.
“Meanwhile, efforts are on to arrest the two suspects who escaped with bullet wounds and other members of the gang presently in hiding.
“The CP, while commending the good people of Imo for their undaunting support to the command, urged all the communities in the state to form vigilante groups in their areas to work in synergy with the police,” the Police added.
Meanwhile, a dispute over the ratio to be adopted in sharing ransom payments from kidnappings has led two gangs of armed bandits in Giwa local council of Kaduna State to kill nine of their members during a gun duel.
Naija News got to know of this classic case of nemesis from a statement issued yesterday by the Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs in Kaduna State, Mr. Samuel Aruwan.
This article was originally published on Naija News