Two Policemen Returning From Osun Missing After Shootout With Gunmen — Kogi CP

TWO policemen are yet to be accounted for, following an encounter with gunmen in Kogi State, while returning from the Osun State governorship election held at the weekend.

Kogi State Commissioner of Police, Edward Egbuka, confirmed this to Channels Television in Lokoja, on Wednesday.

Narrating what transpired, he said the missing policemen were on transit and travelling in an 18-seater bus before the incident occurred at Obajana community.

He disclosed that the security operatives were among the 21,000 personnel deployed by the Inspector-General of Police for the just-concluded governorship election in Osun State and were on their way to Nasarawa State while the bus conveying them got to Kogi State late in the night.

The police commissioner said the vehicle, while in Kogi, developed a mechanical fault along the New ByPass Road, some few metres away from the Trailer Park at Obajana Cement Factory.

He recounted that the policemen were making efforts to fix the vehicle before they came under an attack by a group of gunmen who came from the bush and started shooting in their direction.

According to Egbuka, the policemen initially scampered into the bush after a gunfight with the armed criminals, but they later returned to the scene of the attack.

He confirmed that two of the policemen were yet to return, adding that the command has since deployed search teams to the area to recover the missing security operatives. Meanwhile, some online news platforms reported that the gunmen abducted at least 10 policemen serving in the Nasarawa State police command from the scene of the attack.