Some gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have reportedly shot the Divisional Police Officer of Igarra Police Station in Akoko-Edo local government area of Edo State, Suleiman Muhammed, along the Auchi-Igarra-Ibillo road
The unfortunate incident which occurred on Tuesday a few metres before Sasaro around 7pm caused commuters to be stranded until the intervention of the local vigilante group members who evacuated the injured officer.
It was stated that the assailants thought Muhammed was dead and cleared the road.
A member of the vigilante group from Igarra said the DPO was shot in the eyes, arm, and stomach adding that he might have been shot with an AK-47 as they recovered bullets and other cartridges from the scene of the attack.
He said “The DPO had earlier called us in the morning to a place where they said some suspected yahoo boys constituted a nuisance, then later around 3 pm, he told us that these suspected kidnappers were blocking the road, so we went there and chased them away.
“I was told that later in the evening after inspecting the change of guard, the DPO proceeded in his Toyota Camry car to Auchi where his family resides. The people laid ambush after the near Sasaro and shot him severally, I believe they thought he was dead and then abandoned him.
“Their gunshots made motorists going and coming from Auchi stop until we arrived at the scene in the company of the police to rush the DPO to the hospital. He was bleeding profusely because he was shot in the eyes, arm, and stomach; after stabilising him, he was rushed to Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital.
“This morning (Wednesday) I and my boys went back to the scene and we recovered used bullets including those of AK 47 and cartridges.”
Another leader of the vigilante group attributed the rising presence of kidnappers in that axis to a community along the road which allegedly rents part of its land to herdsmen for grazing.
