Gunmen kill six in another attack in south-east Nigeria

Gunmen have killed six persons during an attack on Ama Hausa in Garki, Okigwe Local Government Area of Imo State, south-east Nigeria.

The hoodlums were said to have invaded the community at about midnight on Wednesday, according to reports in the national media.

The development occurred hours before a separate attack on a police facility in Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi, another state in the South-east where five persons were confirmed dead.

Like in Ebonyi, the gunmen who carried out the attack in Imo State were suspected to be members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed militant wing, Eastern Security Network.

How it happened

During the attack in Okigwe, Imo State, the attackers operated in the community until 9 a.m. on Thursday before Nigerian troops repelled the attack, the Punch newspaper reported.

‘We ‘ll leave no stone unturned’

The Commissioner of Police in Imo State, Aboki Danjuma, has vowed that the police in the state will track down the killers.

Mr Danjuma spoke during his visit to the scene of the attack on Thursday, the paper reported.

“I assure you that the command will leave no stone unturned to ensure that the perpetrators of this dastardly act are all arrested and brought to book,” he said.

The commissioner said the police in collaboration with the military and the local vigilantes were currently carrying out intensive operations in the area to clamp down on the hoodlums responsible for the killing.

The police chief commiserated with families of the deceased victims and urged the residents of the area to go about their lawful businesses without fear, assuring that adequate security measures had been placed to forestall any future occurrence.

He appealed to the residents to continue to support the police and other security agencies with information about any suspicious person or clandestine activity observed within their neighbourhood.

Worsening insecurity

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

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

The Nigerian government has accused IPOB of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the region. But 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.