Gunmen pretending to be land buyers murder three persons in South-east

Gunmen have murdered three persons after luring them to a location in Anambra State ostensibly to buy a parcel of land.

The incident happened at about 2 p.m. on Monday at Isionye, a suburb of Enugwu-Ukwu Community in Njikoka Local Government Area of the state.

The area is a boundary between Enugwu-Ukwu and Nawfia, another community in the council area.

The police spokesperson in Anambra State, Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement forwarded to PREMIUM TIMES on Monday night.

Mr Ikenga, a superintendent of police, said apart from the slain victims, five others were “seriously” injured in the attack.

“Preliminary information reveals that the victims were lured by some individuals through a phone call to the land in the guise of a land transaction and attacked them with guns and machetes,” he said.

The spokesperson said the Commissioner of Police in the state, Nnaghe Obono, has ordered an investigation into the attack and murder of the victims.

Mr Ikenga said the police chief also appealed for calm in the area.

He said police operatives have recovered an abandoned Sienna vehicle used by the attackers.

“Also, the testimonies of the injured victims who are currently receiving treatment in the hospital are aiding the investigation while the bodies of the deceased have been deposited in a morgue,” the police spokesperson stated.

Meanwhile, PREMIUM TIMES reports that youths in the Enugwu-Ukwu have been accusing some community leaders of engaging in unauthorised sale of lands in the area.

In 2020, for instance, some of the youths protested the alleged unauthorised sale of some parcels of land in the Isionye Area of the community.

Worsening insecurity

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

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

The latest attack occurred barely a week after gunmen attacked the Headquarters of Ogbaru Local Government Area of the state.

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The Nigerian government has accused Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the region. But the group has repeatedly denied their involvement in the attacks.

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