Police operatives from Awkunanaw Division in Enugu State have dislodged a group of subversive elements enforcing the sit-at-home order in Enugu.
The sit-at-home order was issued by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which said residents must remain at home for one week.
The government has however told the residents to ignore the order and go about their lawful businesses.
The dislodging of the criminal elements was part of steps taken by the police to protect citizens from any form of harassment.
DSP Daniel Ndukwe, the Police spokesman in the state, said in a statement on Friday in Enugu that some of the hoodlums were wounded during the operation.
Ndukwe said one AK-47 rifle loaded with 19 rounds of live 7.62 calibre ammunition, two bottles of petrol bomb, one hammer, one plier and one Jack-knife were recovered.
Also recovered were a pair of canvass with blood stains abandoned by one of the escaping criminals, fetish objects, a mobile phone, three criminal hoods, one hooded long sleeve, and other items.
Ndukwe said that the hoodlums were out to enforce the sit-at-home order by the outlawed IPOB, but were overpowered by police operatives at One-Day Junction along Agbani Road in Enugu, on Friday morning.
He explained that the police operatives intercepted the armed criminal elements, who were attempting to snatch an ENTRACO branded Sharon minivan from its driver.
“The gallant and eagle-eyed operatives engaged the miscreants in a gun duel, forcing them to abandon the vehicle and narrowly escape with varying degrees of fatal gunshot wounds, due to the superior firepower of the operatives.
“An intense manhunt for the hoodlums is ongoing; while the vehicle, with copious blood stains on the seats and other items therein, was recovered among other incriminating items,” he said.
The spokesman said that Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Ammani, has commended the gallant operatives, and reaffirmed that the police and other security forces would remain focused.
He said that the commissioner has ordered all operatives to sustain the onslaught against the criminals and ensure that residents of the state go about their lawful businesses without fear.
He urged owners of medical facilities and residents of Awkunanaw, One-Day, Top-land and Achara Layout axis of Enugu, “to promptly report to the police, anyone, dead or alive, sighted with gunshot wounds.”