THE Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has arrested 19 suspected cultists during a shootout with cultists.
However, the police said one of its officers and a vigilante sustained injuries during the gunfire.
The suspects attacked a police outstation in the city, in a bid to free their detained members.
They also destroyed part of the building, operational vehicles and cars belonging to private individuals at the station.
According to a statement by the FCT Police Command spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, on Friday, July 25, the faceoff was in response to repeated complaints from residents of Bakassi Yimitu Village in the Apo-Waru axis of the FCT over suspected cult activities.
Following the complaints, a joint task force comprising local vigilantes and hunters, led by the police, conducted a crime prevention patrol in the area on Wednesday, July 24.
Adeh said that during the operation, the team encountered a gathering suspected to be that of the reported cultists who had been terrorising the area.
She added that upon sighting security personnel, the suspected cultists opened fire on the police, which led to a gun duel and resulted in the arrest and detention of 19 suspects at Waru Police Outstation.
“While others escaped with various degrees of bodily injuries, sadly, one police officer and a local vigilante sustained serious injuries and were rushed to the hospital for medical attention,” Adeh stated.
She said shortly after, the escaped assailants regrouped, mobilised, and launched an attack on the Waru Police Outstation in an attempt to free their detained accomplice.
In the process, the invaders vandalised parts of the facility, which includes three patrol Hilux vehicles and six privately owned cars within the premises.
The command said the miscreants were successfully repelled.
A reporter with the ICIR
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