Anambra: Gunmen on rampage, kill fuel attendant as police confirm abduction of SUV driver

Police in Anambra State have confirmed the kidnap of an unidentified SUV driver on Saturday afternoon at Ifite area of Awka, the state capital.

DAILY POST had reported the abduction, but police failed to confirm the incident when our reporter contacted the Command.

On Sunday afternoon, the state police spokesperson, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, in a press statement confirmed that the incident happened close to Nnamdi Azikiwe University back gate.

Ikenga said: “The Commissioner of Police Anambra State, CP Nnaghe Obono Itam, states that efforts are ongoing to arrest the assailants and rescue the victims of the abduction.

“The incident happened by 2pm on 13/7/2024 and was captured in a video along Ifite – Amansea road, Awka. Police responding team recovered the abandoned victim’s vehicle, and joint security measures/personnel positioning are already in place to forestall such/related incident in the state.

“Police responding team recovered the victims’ vehicles and has emplaced Joint Security Measures/Operational positioning to forestall such or related incident in the state.”

Meanwhile, despite efforts by the police to forestall further abductions, DAILY POST can authoritatively report that same Saturday, two more kidnap incidences were recorded in the Anambra State.

Our correspondent gathered that shortly after the first incident, the same group of gunmen returned to the same area and abducted a man from his car, a Lexus 350 salon.

A source in the area said the men picked their victim without challenge, and unlike the first incident where they shot in the air to instill fear in the people, this time they leisurely drove away after abducting the victim.

Two other abductions that happened on the same Saturday at night were at Oraukwu and Nimo communities, respectively.

“In Oraukwu, the man was trailed and abducted, and his Lexus 350 SUV abandoned on the road, while in the Oraukwu incident, a petrol station owner who was said to be driving home with one of his petrol attendants was accosted by gunmen.

“The petrol attendant, a young man was shot dead and his master, who is the owner of the petrol station, was abducted and taken to and unknown location,” a resident who preferred to remain anonymous told DAILY POST.