On Monday, gunmen killed four police officers at a stop-and-search checkpoint along the Owerri-Onitsha road in Imo state.
An eyewitness reported that fear prevented people from determining how many civilians were also shot during the attack.
A resident of Irete in Owerri West Local Government Area, who spoke with Punch, said, “The gunmen stormed one of the popular hotels where the police checkpoint was mounted at Irete around 6:30 pm and shot at the four policemen on a stop-and-search duty, including a Point of Sale operator. They also shot dead a female PoS operator and some pedestrians who were taken unawares and rushed to a nearby hospital. It was horrific. All the people around ran away for fear of being hit by stray bullets.”
Another local resident mentioned that the attackers were enforcing the Monday sit-at-home order in the South-East. “I didn’t know the Monday sit-at-home is still existing in Imo State. I thought it had been stopped, but with what happened today, people will no longer come out on Monday for fear of being killed by gunmen,” he said.
The resident also highlighted the need for increased security measures in the area to prevent further attacks.
News Editor