No fewer than eight persons have been declared wanted by the Police following November 26 invasion of four banks and Police formations in Auchi, Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State.

The State Command spokesperson, DSP Osifo Abiodun disclosed this during a media briefing on the incident in Benin on Wednesday.

He said the fleeing inmates were those who escaped from the Auchi Divisional Police Station cell during the attack that lasted for over three hours.

Abiodun who declined to comment on the number of personel lost during the attack, however said that the command have set machinery in motion to apprehend those behind the dastardly act which left no fewer than 10 persons dead.

The Edo State Command Police Public Relation Officer gave the names of the wanted persons to include Ismail Momoh, Adams Ojo, Edeki Ifidon, Hope Aliu, Paul Omo, Johnson Adama, Danjuma Nassamu and Ahmed Saheed Junior.

While noting that the six of the fleeing suspects were recently arrested for various offences, he said the other two were due for arraignment in court on Friday before the invasion.

Abiodun explained that one has a case of homosexuality while the other was arrested based on alleged murder of a Septuagenarian.

He said that the command has spread its dragnet across the nook and cranny of the state as well as neighbouring states of Kogi, Ondo and Delta with a view to rearresting them.

Abiodun described the Monday invasion of the community as unfortunate and vowed that those behind the act would be brought to book.

According to him, “While we condemned the unfortunate incident, we also commiserate with those who lost their loved ones during the attack.

“They should be rest assured that the Police will leave no stone unturned in apprehending those behind the attack.

“We also deem it necessary to make it public that some persons in our cell escaped during attack in our formation in Auchi.

“While we consider some of the fleeing inmates dangerous, we use this medium to appeal to the public to come forward with any information that will lead to their rearrest.”

Meanwhile, the Deputy Governor of Edo State, Dr Pius Odubu, has called for the deployment of more Police personnel to the State.

Odubu who made the call during his visit to Auchi to access the level of destruction during the invasion, said the present number of Police personnel in the State was grossly insufficient.

He said deployment of more personnel and sophisticated weapons would avert a reoccurrence of the unfortunate incident in Auchi.

It would be recalled that Auchi community was thrown into turmoil when several locations were on Monday evening attacked by armed bandits.

Residents said they heard loud explosions followed by gunshots in the attacks which started at about 7:00 p.m.

The attackers razed a police station and three banks, including EcoBank, GT Bank and Access Bank.