One killed as gunmen bomb INEC office, police facility

Gunmen have bombed an office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Ojoto Community, Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigeria’s south-east.

The latest incident happened at about 1:45 a.m. on Wednesday, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

Sources from the community told this newspaper that the gunmen, in their numbers, stormed the INEC office in four unmarked Toyota Sienna vehicles and threw improvised explosive devices in the area.

The level of damage at the INEC office could not be ascertained as of the time of this report.

The gunmen were said to have also attacked a Police Divisional Headquarters in Nnobi, another community in the council area.

It was gathered that a 16-year-old boy was killed by the gunmen while a 15-year-old girl sustained a gunshot injury during the attack on the police facility.

The police spokesperson in Anambra State, Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the two separate attacks in a statement on Wednesday.

Mr Ikenga, a deputy superintendent of police, said the 16-year-old boy killed by the gunmen is a relative of a serving police officer in the facility. He did not give the identity of the 15-year-old girl who was injured during the attack.

“She has been taken to the hospital where she is receiving treatment,” he said of the injured female victim.

The police spokesperson said the gunmen attacked the INEC facility with petrol bombs and other explosives.

Mr Ikenga said the gunmen also attacked a residential building in the police facility.

He, however, said the police have reinforced security deployment in the state following the attacks.

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“The situation is being monitored,” he assured.

Not the first time in South-east

Although the attacks on INEC offices have been happening across the country, the commission has recently become a target of attacks across the South-east.

The attacks have raised fears regarding the 2023 general elections in the region.

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Several police facilities and INEC offices have been attacked recently across the region.

The attacks on INEC facilities and security agencies around the South-east and the South-south have been attributed to the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

But the group has repeatedly denied its involvement in the attacks.

IPOB is leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra, which it wants to be carved out from the South-east and some parts of the South-south.