Fleeing gunmen on Tuesday killed two policemen and a passersby at a checkpoint on Owerri – Okigwe Road in Imo state.
The incident which happened at a place called double pole in Akabo community in the Ikeduru Local Government Area of the state, had thrown the area into a state of panic.
Several sources disclosed that the yet to be identified gunmen ran into the policemen who allegedly mounted a checkpoint at the spot, killed two officers and a passersby before driving away.
Video clips circulating had two lifeless bodies of cops, a voice explaining that two policemen were gunned down and people running for their lives.
Ekwe Anaedo who visited the scene afterwards saw many policemen at the scene.
A native of the area, who doesn’t want his name in print revealed that the attackers killed two policemen and a civilian in the unfortunate attack.
He said that indigenes and residents were shocked to hear gunshots renting the air, only to come out afterwards and realized that three persons were killed.
He said ” we heard gunshots and afterwards, we realized that two policemen and a passersby were shot dead. Policemen from Owerri have taken over the scene. This is very unfortunate.”
Another indigene of the area who preferred to be anonymous told our correspondent that the incident had caused uneasy calm in the community.
She said ” They killed the policemen at Ndiokwu village which is popularly known as double pole and then moved to Ama-john area of the community. When they entered the village, they started shooting, sporadically.
“They entered Ndiuhu Umuiyi Akabo community after they killed the policemen, and were releasing gunshots in the village. They later left the community after shooting repeatedly.”
When contacted, the police spookersperson in the state, Henry Okoye, disclosed that the state Commissioner of Police, Aboki Danjuma, had deployed Tactical Team operatives of the command to the scene.
Okoye said that a manhunt for the whereabouts of the attackers whom he described as non state actors had been launched.
He said that it was unfortunate that the cops were killed while on active duty, assuring that the police were on top of the situation.
