Gunmen kill seven security guards in Imo

Gunmen have killed seven security guards in Umuafom, Orogwe, a community in Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State, Nigeria’s South-east.

The incident happened at about 9:30 p.m. on Monday when the gunmen invaded the community and shot indiscriminately.

The gunmen were said to have stormed the community in three vehicles, including a motorcycle.

Apart from the seven slain security guards, many others who sustained severe injuries were rushed to the emergency unit of the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, according to reports in local media.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the attack occurred after security operatives, suspected to be members of Ebubeagu Security Network, visited the community and took away a young man from the community.

The seven security guards were reportedly shot at separate locations in the community.

“Four of the guards were shot dead at a building close to a hospital, while the other three were shot at a new building near Corpers Lodge,” a source from the community was quoted as saying.

The identities of the security guards and where they were working before the attack were yet to be ascertained.

A commercial motorcyclist, one of the injured, was caught by a stray bullet while he was riding past the area during the attack, it was learnt.

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The police spokesperson in the state, Michael Abattam, has confirmed the incident.

He could not, however, say if the victims were security guards.

Background

Ebubeagu is a security outfit set up in April, 2021 by governors of the five states in the South-east to help in the fight against insecurity in the region, but their operation is most functional in Ebonyi and Imo states.

Operatives of the security outfit have been the target of gun attacks in the region.

The gunmen, believed to be members of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra, are allegedly against security outfits, especially Ebubeagu, operating in the South-east.

Attacks by the gunmen have worsened lately in the region.

The police and other security agencies have also been the target of attacks in the region.