Gunmen have killed four family members in Anambra State, south-east Nigeria.
The incident happened on Thursday morning in Isseke, a community in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra.
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The victims, Kennedy Igboanugo, his two wives and a daughter, were still sleeping when the hoodlums invaded their apartment, residents told PREMIUM TIMES.
Witnesses said the hoodlums left immediately after killing the victims.
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Police speak
The police spokesperson in Anambra State, Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the incident in a statement on Friday.
Mr Ikenga, a superintendent of police, described the attack as “cowardly and unprovoked.”
The spokesperson said the attack occurred despite simultaneous joint clearance operations by a joint security team to dislodge criminals in the state.
He said the joint security team has now cordoned off the area.
“The bodies of the victims have been recovered and deposited at the morgue while investigations continue,” he stated.
Mr Ikenga said the police were already working on “some clues” to track down the hoodlums.
Increased attacks
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.
Hundreds of persons have been killed or abducted and several others injured in some of such attacks in the region.
The latest attack happened exactly one week after gunmen killed a lawyer and his client in Egbebelu village of Nanka, a community in Orumba North Local Government Area of the state.
The Nigerian government has repeatedly accused the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the region.
But the group has 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 the South-south Nigeria.
