Two policemen sustained gunshot injuries following attack by gunmen on Bende Divisional Police Station in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State on Wednesday night.
Eyewitness account said the hoodlums numbering about 100 , at about 11 p.m.set the station on fire .
“We heard a cacophony of gunshots around 10.45 p.m. and when we rushed outside, we saw the station on fire.
“At that point, it dawned on us that the station was under attack so everybody began to scamper for safety,” the eyewitness said on the condition of anonymity.
The Spokesman of the Abia State Police Command, Godfrey Ogbonna, confirmed the attack in an interview with reporters in Umuahia, the state capital on Thursday.
Ogbonna said the police operatives were shot in the leg and that the attackers also burnt down the generator house and a multi-purpose building, belonging to Bende Local Government Council.
He said the hoodlums later released criminal suspects, who were detained at the station.
“They also burnt two vehicles, including the Divisional Police Officer’s Highlander Jeep, and three motorcycles, parked at the station,” he said.
Ogbonna said that it was not clear how the bandits arrived at the place in their numbers.
“We do not know yet how they all gathered to execute the attack at the station.
“Maybe they parked their vehicles away from their target and walked through footpaths to the place.”
He said that the command had embarked on full investigation into the incident and other recent gunmen attacks in different parts of the state.
The police station is located at the main entrance to the Bende Local Council headquarters.
The attack happened barely six hours after Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu left the council premises, venue of the reception of a former legislator, Hon. Nnenna Ukeje, back to the PDP.
Ukeje dumped PDP for the All Progressives Congress in 2019 after losing the party’s ticket to return to the House of Representatives for the fourth tenure.
Gunmen recently embarked on serial destruction of government facilities in Abia, including police formations and the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The attacks have left many policemen dead with many others sustaining gunshot wounds.
