IG orders probe of Enugu Government House invasion by armed men

THE Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar has ordered a full scale investigation into the circumstances  surrounding  the invasion of Government House, Enugu, weekend, by a gang of armed men during which one person was killed while three others were arrested.

Police sources at the Force Headquarters, Abuja intimated Vanguard that the police boss who was visibly piqued by the development directed both the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in-charge of Zone 9, Umuahia and the Commissioner of Police, Enugu State to swing into action with a view to unraveling the motive behind the early morning attack during which dangerous weapons including guns, machetes among others  were freely used for hours before security men comprising policemen, men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCD, and soldiers prevented the assailants from gaining entry into the official residence of Governor Sullivan Chime.

The  sources said both the police high command and the Presidency were highly rattled by the ugly development which they said should be regarded as insurrection and have ordered all relevant security agencies to swing into action and round up both the fleeing  attackers  and their sponsors.

According to sources, “ we are not going to take this ugly development with a pinch of salt especially when the elections are almost here with us and this should aptly be described as a foretaste of how the real thing will be in the state. More over, Enugu State has been among the states with the lowest crime rate in the country until this attack by these sponsored hoodlums.”

Vanguard learnt also that because of  the fact that  some of those arrested after the invasion have been allegedly identified as natives of Aguleri, Anambra  East Local Government Area of Anambra State, security agents are relating the invasion of the Government House with the bloody situation that existed few years back in Enugu State when thugs from war-torn Aguleri/Umuleri and both serving as well as ex-prisoners were surreptitiously used to track down opponents of the ruling party in the state.

The sources further said, “we have been directed to exhaust all the pointers suspected to be the motive including the recent political upheaval within the ruling party in the state, the cold war between two top members of the party inside the Government House and other sundry issues that may have led to the invasion. I assure you that we will certainly get to the bottom of this case and all those involved regardless of their status, would be made to face the music.”

When contacted on phone, Enugu State Police spokesman, Ebere Amarizu simply told Vanguard “We have beefed up security in and around the area. More patrol vehicles have been assigned to the area and we are intensifying investigations to find out the motive;  who they are working for and after that, the truth must come out.”