It was a bloody day in Ebonyi , Friday after gunmen shot four police officers and two women dead while suspected herdsmen killed 16 people and set several houses on fire. The four police personnel were killed at a checkpoint in Abakaliki, capital of Ebonyi State and the women were apparently hit by stray bullets on the Nwofe-Hiltop Road in the state capital.
The Ebonyi attacks occurred at about 5am yesterday. The road is a major entrance into the city and also leads to Governor Francis Nwifuru’s country home. Police spokesperson, Joshua Ụkandu, confirmed the incident in a statement, saying: “Today at about 05:00am, operatives of the Command who were posted to duty at Hilltop stop and search/pin-down point along Nwofe Road, on the outskirts of Abakaliki, were attacked by armed hoodlums.”
Mr Ụkandu claimed the attackers were suspected to be members of the Eastern Security Network (ESN), the militia arm of the secessionist group, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). But this claim could not be independently verified. He said the gunmen shot sporadically at the operatives who engaged the hoodlums in a fierce gun duel.
“In the ensuing gun battle, the hoodlums scampered and abandoned a pump action rifle which was recovered.
However, four) of the operatives paid the supreme price, while two civilians were caught in the crossfire and killed,” he added.
The spokesperson noted that the Commissioner of Police in the state, Augustina Ogbodo, swiftly dispatched tactical teams to track down the fleeing hoodlums.
Suspected IPOB/ESN Kills Four Police Officers, Two Others In Ebonyi
