Another police officer has been feared dead, as gunmen reportedly attacked a police checkpoint in Nnobi, Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State.
This is coming barely one week after some yet-to-be-identified gunmen similarly attacked a police checkpoint in Nnewi, Nnewi North Local Government Area of the State, and during which one police officer was gunned down by the hoodlums, who also used an explosive device to launch the attack.
The latest attack, it was gathered, occurred at about 6:30 am on Friday, August 16, at the checkpoint beside the Nnobi Police Headquarters.
It was further gathered that the gunmen engaged the policemen in a gun duel that lasted for about an hour, during which one of the policemen, simply identified as Nwaibi, was fatally injured. The deceased police officer was said to be the driver of one of the police vehicles.
According to a report by the Daily Independent, the hoodlums had lodged in a house close to the checkpoint, at the compound of a woman identified as Mama Amanda.
It was said that they broke a wall through which they entered the compound and forced the residents to open the gate to drive in their cars. They were also said to have collected the handsets belonging to the residents and forced them into a room and warned them not to raise the alarm failing which they would be shot.
The report also quoted eyewitness accounts as explaining that the hoodlums captured a young man said to be going on an errand that Friday morning, adding that the hoodlums had in their possession objects said to be snipers, AKs, lunchers, chains.
It further quoted the unidentified young man as saying: “I was going on an errand that morning. They asked me where I was going. I told them. They asked me who my parents were. I told them. One of them shouted at the one questioning me saying ‘If he cannot say anything fire him.’ Then they dragged me into one of their cars inside the compound and continued to ask questions. They were about ten in number. Then, one of them told me that I should find my way if I heard a gunshot. So, as they started shooting I laid flat on the floor of the vehicle and later crawled out to the wall, climbed it, and jumped out of the compound.”
When contacted the Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Ikenga Tochukwu confirmed the attack.
SP Ikenga, in a telephone interview, also revealed that there’s an operation going on in the area now, on the directive of the State Police, CP Nnaghe Obono Itam.
“It is true. One policeman was killed, and there is an operation going on in that area now, which the Commissioner of Police has ordered,” he said.
