The Police Command in Benue on Friday said that it had killed seven suspected armed robbers along Lafia-Makurdi road.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Catherine Anene, who stated this in a statement in Makurdi, said that the team of police officers trailed the robbers following a tip-off after they had killed a Police Officer at a checkpoint along Lafia-Makurdi road.
“Following reports of armed robbery incidents and the attack of a police checkpoint on 4/6/2020 at Lafia-Makurdi road that led to the death of Inspector Boniface Odeh and the loss of an AK47 rifle, a team of police officers were detailed to trail the armed robbers terrorising commuters on the road.
“The team of police officers swiftly moved to the scene and met the hoodlums dressed in military camouflage and police uniforms.
“They engaged the police in a gun duel that lasted about 20 minutes. In the process, seven of the armed robbers sustained various degrees of bullet wounds.
“They were rushed to the Benue State University Teaching Hospital where they eventually died and their corpses had been deposited at the morgue for autopsy,” he said.
Anene explained that the Police recovered the missing AK47 rifle, another AK47 rifle loaded with 21 live ammunition, one locally-made pistol with two cartridges, two dane guns, four touch lights, four machetes, nine cell phones and assorted charms.
“Criminals are warned to desist from their evil ways or face the full wrath of the law as the command will not leave any stone unturned in the fight against crime,” he said.