Gunmen kill another police officer in south-east Nigeria

Gunmen have killed a police officer in Ohafia Local Government Area of Abia State, south-east Nigeria.

The attack happened at about 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, residents told PREMIUM TIMES.

The attack occurred barely three days after gunmen killed another police officer during an attack on the convoy of a Nigerian lawmaker, Ginger Onwusibe, in the state.

How the latest attack occurred

Sources told PREMIUM TIMES that the latest attack happened when gunmen attacked a police team at a checkpoint along Asaga Road in the Ohafia Council Area of the state.

The attackers, numbering about six, were said to have attacked the police team and opened fire on them.

“One policeman was shot dead immediately and two of the officers escaped miraculously,” said a commercial bus driver, who witnessed the incident, but asked not to be named.

This newspaper gathered that shootings by the hoodlums attracted the attention of police operatives from the Ohafia Division and soldiers from the 14 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, but the gunmen had left before their arrival at the scene.

Another source, a resident of the area, who identified himself simply as Chisom, said one of the officers who sustained severe gunshot wounds was rumoured to have died shortly after the incident.

But PREMIUM TIMES could not independently verify the rumour.

The police spokesperson in Abia State, Maureen Chinaka, did not respond to calls and a text seeking her comments.

Increased attack

Like other states in Nigeria’s south-east, security has deteriorated in Abia with frequent attacks by armed persons.

The attacks often target security agencies, government officials and facilities.

Exactly a week ago, gunmen killed two Nigerian soldiers at a checkpoint on the Umuahia-Owerri Road in Ekeneobizi, another community in the same Umuahia South Local Government of Abia State.

The Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, in response to the rising attacks in the state, recently accused unnamed opposition politicians of being responsible for the worsening insecurity in the state.

Unlike Governor Otti, the Nigerian government has repeatedly accused the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the region.

However, the group has repeatedly denied its involvement in the attacks.

IPOB is a group leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra, which it wants carved out from the south-east and some parts of south-south Nigeria.