By Perez Brisibe

UGHELLI—THE Delta State Police Command said it has lost a minimum of five AK-47 rifles to hoodlums in the recent onslaught on policemen in parts of the state.

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The disclosure was made yesterday by the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Andrew Aniamaka.

Aniamaka’s disclosure is coming on the heels of a gun duel by security operatives made up of men of the 222 battalion, Nigeria Army and Nigeria Police, ‘A’ Division and a gang of suspected kidnappers leading to the death of one of the hoodlums who had been on the wanted list of the police.

The suspect, Efe Johnson, in the company of three other members of his gang, was shot along the Oviri-Ogor road in Ughelli North council area during an attempt to abduct one Mrs Tracy Panshark.

Witnesses at the scene of the incident told Vanguard that the hoodlums had succeeded in abducting the woman, who they forced to lie flat on the floor of the back seat of her Solara Coupe car when they were accosted by the security operatives, who engaged them in a gun battle.

“During the shootout, one of the kidnappers was shot on the back while the others escaped with their arms including an AK-47 and a pump action rifle. Unfortunately for him, he died after giving useful information to the police,” one of the witnesses stated.

Acting on the information given by the suspect, it was gathered that the police stormed Oginibo community in Ughelli South Local Government Area where the suspects reside in a manhunt for other members of the gang.

A resident of the community, who simply gave his name as Daniel, said: “Unfortunately for the police, the other members of the gang identified the police early enough and fled immediately with the police issuing an ultimatum to leaders of the community to provide them within a specific period.”

On the loss of the Police rifles, Aniamaka said: “Since the attacks started roughly two months ago, we have not lost anything less than five rifles to these hoodlums, but we have made some arrests in connection with these incidents and investigation is currently ongoing into recovering these rifles.”