Vigilante commander, others killed as gunmen invade Anambra communities

Several residents, including a vigilante commander were killed on Monday when gunmen invaded Nnewi, a community in Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra State.

The gunmen, multiple sources said, invaded the community at about 11 a.m. and opened fire on residents, killing an unspecified number of people during the attack.

PREMIUM TIMES identified the slain vigilante commander as Eloka Mbajekwe.

After the attack in Nnewi, the gunmen headed to Nnobi, a neighbouring community in Idemili South Local Government Area of the state.

How it happened

A resident of the Nnewi, Amaechi Odoh, told PREMIUM TIMES that the gunmen met some commercial riders in the area and asked why they were not observing a sit-at-home order.

“They immediately opened fire on them, killing some people. Several others are in hospitals now,” Mr Odoh said in Igbo language.

He said the hoodlums also visited a hotel in the area where they shot some people and abducted a yet-to-be-ascertained number of people.

The resident said that vigilante operatives in the community upon receipt of the attack confronted the gunmen.

“They started shooting themselves and then the gunmen killed the Nnewi vigilante commander,” he stated.

“Many were shot. In fact, hospitals were filled up as of yesterday (Monday).”

Another resident, Victor Ofodeme, said the gunmen snatched some vehicles and mobile phones from people before opening fire on them.

“There is a lot of casualties. Currently, I can confirm four persons are dead,” he said Tuesday morning.

Mr Ofodeme said the style of the attack did not suggest that the attackers were sit-at-home enforcers.

Like Nnewi, like Nnobi

A resident of Nnobi, who asked not to be named, said the gunmen opened fire on residents in the community.

“They came to Afor Nnobi and shot about four people. They also snatched vehicles from other people. Nnobi was hot yesterday,” he said.

Police react

The police in Anambra State have confirmed the attacks and killings.

The police spokesperson in the state, Tochukwu Ikenga, in a statement on Tuesday, said vigilante operatives trailed the gunmen to Nnobi after they abducted a resident in Nnewi on Monday.

Mr Ikenga, a superintendent of police, said the vigilante operatives subsequently engaged the gunmen in a shootout in Nnobi.

“During the gun duel, one of the security operatives was fatally hit by the bullet and due to the indiscriminate shootings by the hoodlums in an attempt to escape the scene, the bullet also fatally struck two innocent passersby in the area,” he said.

“The Police Responding Team at the scene recovered the bodies of the victims and took them to the hospital but regrettably, three of the victims including a 22-year-old lady were confirmed dead by the doctors on duty while two others are currently receiving treatment,” he stated.

The spokesperson said the Commissioner of Police in the state, Nnaghe Itam, has ordered a manhunt for the attackers whom he described as “cowards.”

Mr Itam, according to the statement, commiserated with the families of the deceased victims.

The commissioner appealed to witnesses to support police operatives with information that will aid ongoing operations to track down the killers.

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 agents, government officials and facilities.

The latest occurred barely 24 hours after gunmen kidnapped a Catholic priest in Ajalli, a community in Orumba North Local Government Area of the state. The cleric was yet to be released as of the time of filing this report.

Last Saturday, some gunmen attacked Ogbaru Local Government Area Headquarter and set vehicles ablaze.

In May, Basil Chukwuemeka, another Catholic priest, was kidnapped at Nkpor in Idemili North Local Government Area of the state.

He was released eight days later.

The Nigerian government has accused the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of being responsible for some of the deadly attacks in the region. But the group has repeatedly denied its 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 South-south Nigeria.