Gentlemen of the press, I welcome you all to this press conference today 6th August, 2017.
The purpose of this briefing is to intimate you on the shooting incident that happened this morning.
At about 6.30hrs of today, 6th August 2017. I got a distress call that gunmen had invaded St. Philip Catholic church Amakwa in Ozubulu, Ekwusigo LGA while the mass was going on and shot at worshipers.
Police teams along with other sister security agencies under my direct supervision were deployed to the scene to rescue the worshippers.
Victims were evacuated to the hospital, and the hospital authority has confirmed 11 people’s dead, and 18 injured as a result of the shooting.
The Executive governor of the state visited the scene while I was there, and assured the injured persons of his support in offsetting the medical bills and that the full wrath of law will be visited on the perpetrators.
The Command under my watch will leave no stone unturned in locating and prosecuting those behind the massacre of innocent worshippers.
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The Command assures Ndi Anambra and the general public that the Police is on top of the situation and will locate and prosecute the perpetrators soon.
Intelligence report/Preliminary investigation shows that the incident is as a result of a feud between two individuals who are from the community but who live outside Nigeria, one of the individual we learnt, built the church where the incident occurred.
It is definitely not a terrorist attack in the mould of Boko haram or Fulani herdsmen attack.
The Command views this dastardly act as sacrilegious but for now considers it still premature to disclose the identities of those involved in the act.
The Command will brief the public after investigation is concluded.
I commiserate with all those who lost their loved ones from this unfortunate incident and pledge that the command would not rest on its oars until the perpetrators are apprehended to face justice.
I want to also encourage Ndi Anambra to be vigilant and to report strange and suspicious movement of persons and actions in their locality to the security agencies promptly, please.
CP GARBA BABA UMAR psc
COMMISSIONER OF POLICE ANAMBRA STATE
