Suspected members of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), while enforcing a sit-at-home order on Tuesday, burnt down buses and tricycles in Onitsha and Ihiala local government councils of Anambra State.
Security operatives immediately swung into action, dispersing the hoodlums and stopping them from causing harm to the public.
A source who spoke with Daily Trust said that the activities of the gunmen were becoming deadly every day, adding that no day passes in Ihiala without heavy gun battle between security men and gunmen.
According to the source, children are not allowed to go to school because of the activities of the gunmen.
“I don’t know what these people needed from us. They have collapsed the economy in Ihiala; people cannot stay in their shops and offices, and children can no longer go to school. We are living in fear. Government should do something to save this community” the source stated.
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An eyewitness in Onitsha said some youths were seen wielding dangerous weapons on Tuesday, trying to disrupt economic activities in Onitsha in the name of enforcing the sit-at-home order.
According to the eyewitness, tricycles and buses were burnt down, forcing residents to run for their lives.
“Armed with guns and other dangerous weapons, the gunmen came out in their numbers on a motorbike and started shooting sporadically, in an attempt to rob a bank and to disrupt commercial activities and vehicular movement going on in Ihiala,” the eyewitness stated.
A message had been circulated on social media last week, stating that there would be a 4-day sit-at-home exercise in the southeast, beginning from Monday, May 8, to 11 and no reason was given for the order.
The police command’s spokesperson, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, who confirmed the incident, said the enforcers were confronted by police operatives and had been dislodged.
He said, “Police responded swiftly which made the criminals escape the scene. The hoodlums, in an attempt to scare the residents from coming out to embark on their daily activities, stopped and set on fire commercial vehicles and tricycles plying the road.
“The residents courageously resisted the assailants and the fire has been put off by the police operatives and some people in the area. Meanwhile calm has returned to the area and the situation is under control and monitored.
“Unfortunately, due to the indiscriminate shootings by the armed group, a stray bullet hit the chief security officer of a bank on the leg and he has been taken to the hospital where he is currently receiving treatment. No life was lost.”
