BEVERLY HILLS, April 18, (THEWILL) – Suspected communist rebels in the southern Philippines have abducted five police officers in response to an attack on a government militia detachment, a police spokesman said on Monday.
The National Police Spokesman, Chief Superintendent Wilben Mayor, said that a joint team of policemen and soldiers have been dispatched to hunt down the guerrillas and rescue the police officers.
Mayor said that the police officers were on their way to back up a military unit in Davao City, 990 kilometres south of Manila, which was being raided by a group of communist rebels on Saturday.
“But they were intercepted by another set of guerrillas and taken as prisoners,” Mayor said.
A communist rebel spokesman said the police officers were being held for investigation of alleged crimes against the people.
Communist rebels have been fighting the Philippine government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia.
They have in the past abducted and killed police officers, soldiers and government officials for allegedly committing crimes against the masses.
In related development, the Police in Lagos have arrested a Sergeant, Victor Omorokai, who allegedly hijacked a 20 feet container laden with auto spare-parts in Ogun State.
It was gathered that four policemen, all attached to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Panti-Yaba, on Saturday night blocked the container with their Sienna car as they pretended to be officers on duty and flanked the heavy duty vehicle down.
As soon as the driver stopped, they pointed a gun at him and his conductor, ordering them out of the trailer and etoured the container to Abbatoir, where they contacted a prospective buyer who came and inspected the goods but did not buy.
Unknown to the suspects, the trailer conveying the container had a car tracking device and was being monitored by its owners who made a distress to the police informing the agency about the incident and notifying it that the trailer had a tracking device.
“The police then started monitoring their location as they were moving and tracked them to Agege. Three police units made of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Safer Highways and the Okokomaiko Police Division were deployed,” the state command’s spokesperson, Dolapo Badmos said.
“The teams blocked the various entry and exit points. The suspects contacted another buyer and was moving towards Okokomaiko when the police stopped the container.
“At first, they pretended they were policemen who arrested the truck but when they saw that they were in trouble they started shooting. While three of them managed to escape, Sergeant Victor Omorokai was arrested. Three civilians have also been arrested in connection with the crime.
“The case is still under discreet investigation.”
Story by David Oputah
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