Two killed as gunmen attack police facility in Enugu

Two killed as gunmen attack police facility in Enugu

Two persons, including a police officer, were killed on Sunday when gunmen attacked Inyi Police Divisional Headquarters in Oji River Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria’s South-east.

The gunmen, numbering about six, were said to have stormed the police facility in two vehicles and opened fire on some police officers, killing one of them and a resident at the spot.

Sources told our correspondent that the hoodlums also razed the facility, a one-storey building, after about an hour of shootings.

Some video clips apparently shot after the attack have gone viral on social media.

One of the clips, seen by our correspondent, showed the facility in flames.

Residents gathered near the facility, crying and watching the corpses of the victims.

“I witnessed the attack. The gunmen are just youths. They came in two vehicles, shooting sporadically. We were standing by.

“They told us that we are not their problem, but police officers and we should not run. They shot two officers and started razing their building,” a voice speaking in the Igbo language could be heard saying in the background of the video.

It was gathered that one of the victims was a police officer, while the other was an unidentified resident, said to have gone to the facility to lodge a complaint.

In another clip, two corpses were lying on the ground in front of the facility’s perimeter fence, as residents were heard lamenting the attack.

Some motorcycles, believed to have been confiscated by police officers working in the facility, were destroyed by the fire.

When contacted, the police spokesperson in the state, Daniel Ndukwe, confirmed the incident to our correspondent.

He, however, declined to comment on the killing of the officer and the unidentified resident in the attack.

“Police operatives are on the trail of the masked hoodlums,” he said.

Increased attacks

Enugu, like other states in Nigeria’s South-east, has witnessed an increase in deadly attacks lately.

The latest incident comes barely three weeks after gunmen attacked an army checkpoint in Amodu Awkunanaw, a community in Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu State. Two persons were feared killed in the attack.

Gunmen, in September, killed the wife of a leader of a local vigilante operative in Umuopu, Enugu-Ezike, a community in the Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of the state.

Days after, gunmen also killed three police officers at New Haven, Enugu North Local Government Area of the state.

Earlier in September, gunmen attacked members of the Labour Party (LP) who were holding a meeting in Awgu Community, Awgu Local Government Area of the state.

Some LP members were also attacked on 31 August by gunmen in Nenwe, a community in the Aninri Local Government Area of the state.

Gunmen, in June, attacked a police checkpoint along Agbani Road in Enugu South Local Government Area of the state. Two officers were feared killed in the attack.

A police officer was killed in mid-June by gunmen who attacked a police checkpoint in Ibagwa-Ani, a community in Nsukka Local Government Area of the state.

Two police officers were also killed on 2 June when gunmen attacked Mkpamte Community in the Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of the state.

The Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, recently banned the operations of motorcycles and tricycles in some local government areas to check the frequent attacks in the state.

The governor later lifted the ban following public outcry, and assurances from leaders of the transport unions to assist the government in bringing an end to the attacks.

The attacks, mostly targeted at security officials and government facilities, have been attributed to the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) which is agitating for a sovereign state for the Igbo-speaking people in the South-east.

The IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is detained in Abuja where he is standing trial for terrorism.