The Assistant Commissioner of Police in Edo state has been confirmed dead, Daily Report Nigeria can confirm.
The deceased who was shot during an exchange of gunfire with cultists over the ongoing supremacy battle in the state, died on Saturday at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH).
Two other Inspectors who also received bullet wounds are still recuperating at the hospital under very critical condition.
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The three officer had run into an ambush set by the Aiye and Vikings cult groups during a rescue mission in the notorious Upper Sokponba and Murtala Mohammed Way axes of Benin.
The ACP’s death was confirmed in a telephone chat by a senior police Officer of Edo command, who spoke in confidence.
The number of dead casualties recorded in the ongoing cult war has risen to a whooping twenty eight as at Saturday evening, even as sporadic shootings continue.
An inspection on Saturday evening around notable hotspots in Benin, such as the Upper Sokponba, Siluko, Ibivwe, Uselu, Isihor, Iguosa and Ugbowo, hosting the Federal Government-owned University of Benin (UNIBEN), show that residents were in total fear and have mostly remained indoors since the outbreak of the rampaging cult war.
The sudden increase in illegal arms and ammunition in the state has been attributed to the looting and burning of not less than seven police stations on October 19, with large cache of arms and ammunition away by hoodlums.
The deployment of the Nigerian army to the Benin environs has not been effective as the cultists still brandish AK-47 rifles, machetes, battle axes, broken bottles, clubs and other dangerous weapons in broad daylight.
Edo Commissioner of Police, Babatunde Kokumo, earlier revealed that inmates who escaped from the correctional centres in Benin have been sending threats to police officers involved in their investigation and prosecution processes.
He also urged the people of Edo to come forward with information on the the fleeing prisoners to help the police return normalcy to the state.
