Earlier report in the media said the market was bombed by IPOB.
The police in Imo State have said that the recent fire at the popular Izombe Central Market in Oguta Local Government Area of the state was not caused by bomb explosion, as reported in the media.
The police spokesperson in the state, Michael Abattam, made the clarification in a statement on Tuesday.
A newspaper reportedthat the market was bombed on Monday by suspected members of outlawedIndigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) enforcing the suspended the sit-at-home order.
But the police spokesperson said the fire was not from a bomb and neither was it caused by IPOB members or its militant wing, Eastern Security Network.
“Preliminary investigation conducted by police operatives on arrival at the market while responding to the distress call on June 20, at about 16:30 hours, revealed that ‘some overzealous miscreants’ came to the Izombe Central Market in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State, on a motorcycle, went to a stationed bus where the conductor was canvassing for passengers traveling to Owerri and set it ablaze in the name of enforcing sit-at-home order in the community and left almost immediately after the act,” Mr Abattam said.
He said no life was lost in the incident which he said happened at the close of the market, when most traders had left.
The spokesperson also denied that the traders had been warned by the IPOB members not to open for business on Mondays due to the IPOB sit-at-home order.
He said “the community has always engaged in their market business without fear of molestation from anybody.”
Mr Abattam said the report was “misleading” and done with the intention to undermine the “already improved security situation in the state” and also to “dampen the confidence the police in the state.