A Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa, has claimed responsibility for the killing of four policemen in Imo State on Monday.
Gunmen were said to have attacked the policemen who were on stop-and-search duty in the Irete community along Onitsha Road in Owerri, the Imo State capital.
A Point of Sale (PoS) operator was also reportedly killed in the ambush by the attackers.
Henry Okoye, police spokesman in the state, confirmed the incident.
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According to him, four policemen were killed and not six contrary to reports.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, shortly after the attack, Ekpa announced that his Biafra Defence Forces had carried out the assault.
He claimed to have recovered weapons from the operatives.
Ekpa, who often refers to Nigerian security personnel as “terrorists”, demanded the withdrawal of all Nigerian security forces from the Southeast.
“The Biafra Defence Forces Owerri Command has recovered weapons from the terrorists after neutralising them in numbers. Withdrawal of all the Nigeria terrorists from Biafraland is the demand and we approach declaration in December.
“If you think you will continue to use force and terrorism tactics to force us to remain in the union, this will continue to be your faith in Biafraland,” he wrote.
A video clip attached to his post showed rifles and police case files displayed by individuals who claimed to have attacked the police.
The clip, however, did not reveal the faces of the speakers.
Daily Trust reports that the attack is the latest in the spate of attacks against security agents by non-state actors in Imo State and the South-East geopolitical zone.