One police officer has been killed and two patrol vehicles burnt following an attack on the Ohauku Divisional Headquarters of the Ebonyi State Police Command by suspected gunmen.
The incident was said to have occurred on Sunday night but the police authorities reacted on Monday, October 18, 2021.
Loveth Odah, the Police public relations officer, confirmed the attack to Channels Television on Monday, October 18, 2021, via a telephone conversation.
She said the officer died while being rushed to the hospital for medical attention after he sustained gunshot wounds.
But the police spokesperson debunked some media reports that the gunmen freed some inmates.
According to Odah, the Commissioner of Police, CP Aliyu Garba has visited the scene of the unfortunate incident and called on people in the area to assist the police in arresting those behind the attack.
Rising attacks
Sunday’s attack is the latest in a series of attacks on police stations and security personnel in the South-East region.
Dozens of officers have been killed in the southeast this year in attacks authorities blame on the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, a separatist movement agitating for a breakaway state for the ethnic Igbo people.
IPOB denies its Eastern Security Network paramilitary wing is behind the attacks, saying it is being falsely accused in a bid to cause division among its ranks.
With a headcount of around 200 million, Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country, and tensions among its more than 250 ethnic groups often simmer.
But some local leaders fan ethnic embers for political gain, critics say, especially as 2023 elections approach to replace President Muhammadu Buhari.
Others accuse criminal gangs using the IPOB name as a cover. Some see a frustrated hardline wing of the separatists at work.
Buhari’s government, under increasing pressure to tackle insecurity in Nigeria, has ordered a police and army operation to stop the southeastern unrest.
