Gunmen have killed two persons during an attack at Ekwulobia flyover in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State, south-east Nigeria.
The incident, PREMIUM TIMES gathered, occurred on Wednesday morning.
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Sources told this newspaper that the hoodlums first shot dead a tricycle rider before killing a yet-to-be-identified shop owner in the area.
“They (gunmen) also set some security vehicles ablaze,” one witness, who asked not to be named, said.
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In a video clip circulating on Facebook, the hoodlums were seen shooting indiscriminately around the flyover.
Another video clip circulating on Facebook, apparently shot after the attack, showed the body of the tricyclist on his tricycle.
“He was riding his tricycle when the gunmen just came and shot him dead,” an unidentified woman could be heard in the background of the clip.
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“The other person was inside and the gunmen just went to his shop and killed him,” she added.
Police speak
The police spokesperson in Anambra State, Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the development in a statement on Wednesday.
Mr Ikenga, a superintendent of police, said the attackers “unprovokedly shot indiscriminately under the Ekwulobia flyover,” which prompted a joint security team to engage them in a shootout.
“Regrettably, the incident recorded the death of two unsuspecting members of the public and the burning of a brown Toyota Sienna vehicle allegedly belonging to the Anambra State Vigilante Group,” he said.
The spokesperson said the joint security team later demobilised one of the hoodlums and recovered bodies of the victims.
He did not, however, mention the security agencies involved in the operation by the joint security team.
An AK-47 rifle, one automatic pump action gun and four vehicles, including a GLK Mercedes Benz and a Lexus 330 SUV, were among the items recovered from the suspects, according to the police.
Like Ekwulobia, like Oko
Mr Ikenga said, the same day, some hoodlums carried out a fresh attack at the Oko Divisional Police Headquarters in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State.
“But the gallant officers on duty repelled the assault by the armed criminals. No casualties were recorded as the aggressive pursuit by the joint security team of the assailants continued in the area,” he said.
It is unclear if the gunmen were the same people who carried out the previous attack at Ekwulobia Flyover.
The spokesperson said, given the separate attacks, the Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Ikioye Orutugu, ordered the deployment of security operatives to forestall further breakdown of law and order in the areas.
He said the police chief urged residents to remain calm as efforts were in place to ensure their safety.
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 occurred less than two weeks after some gunmen invaded Ogboji, a community in Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra State on 30 June, killing about 13 people.
READ ALSO: How bandits ambushed, killed eight vigilantes in Plateau – Official
At least two persons were killed on 19 June when suspected cultists attacked residents of the Oko Community.
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 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.
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