Benneth Igweh, the Commissioner of Police in the Federal Capital Territory, has expressed displeasure over the killing of two of his operatives during a procession by members of the proscribed Islamic Movement in Nigeria popularly known as Shiites.
The Abuja Police chief also described as “provocative” the actions of the group who attacked security operatives and left two other policewomen who were critically injured during the melee that occurred in the nation’s capital, Abuja, on Sunday.
A trader was reportedly shot dead, while two police officers were killed in the clash between police and the group at the popular Wuse Market, Abuja, and also set ablaze three police vehicles.
In a chat with newsmen at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, Igweh vowed that he would not tolerate any attack on his men, insisting that their killers would not go unpunished.
“You can see now that these people (Shiites) have killed my men. They even went ahead to injure two policewomen. They’ve even declared war on security operatives.
“We spoke to their lawyer, if you heard what he was saying, you would be shocked, you would know that these people have declared total war on us.
Igweh said, “What happened is that today, we are surprised that members of the Shiite movement, whatever the IRMN, whatever they call themselves, decided to come out en masse to attack the policemen.
“We saw them, we saw their dead bodies and killed brutally, brutally. Two of them are already dead.
“Four, including a woman police officer, are unconscious, all of them, with different injuries they inflicted on them. All of them were in uniform. So, I just decided to say, for the fact they are not provoked, they did it willingly, because they have agreed to attack security agencies, and for no just cause.
“So, I want to tell them and assure them that for the fact they have started this war and provoked us, we are going to haunt them, we cannot leave it to go like that. We are going to haunt them, no matter where they are. I assure them very well that we are going to haunt them because the families of the policemen they have killed are crying.”
Igweh denied the police attacked the Shi’ite members, insisting that the attack on his men was unprovoked.
He said, “If we had killed any of them, it would have been a different thing. Or if we had attacked them, it would have been a different thing. They would have said, Igwe did this and Igwe did that.
“But today, they have willingly, with impunity, attacked policemen and killed them without provocation. So, you saw that dead body, if you don’t know it, go to the Wuse Mortuary, and you’ll see them there. It’s just annoying, it’s just provoking, but I want to assure them that we are not going to leave them unpunished.
“We are going to haunt them wherever they are, in Nigeria. “
Igweh said 52 Shi’ite members are in their custody.
He said, “We arrested, at least today, we arrested almost 52 of them, some of their bosses. When they killed the policemen, everybody was surprised.
“Some of them reside inside FCT, others are in Niger and Nasarawa, and some came from far. We have got an intelligence of how they coordinated the attack. So, we are looking for them.”
“I want to assure you that we won’t take that lightly, this is the last protest or procession they will carry out in FCT,”
