Four police officers were killed Friday night when gunmen assaulted the Agwa Divisional Police Headquarters in Imo State’s Oguta Local Government Area in the country’s south-east.
The incident, which occurred at 10 p.m., has frightened residents.
The attackers also destroyed a part of the plant as well as some working vehicles.
They allegedly assaulted the premises in three vehicles — a truck and two passenger cars — and started fire on the facility, killing the cops.
A resident told Newsmen that he heard numerous gunshots in the night at the police station, but he couldn’t identify how many cops were murdered in the incident.
“We came out this morning and found corpses of police officers.” “I don’t know how many were killed, but I saw up to four (corpses),” he said.
Michael Abattam, the state police spokesperson, did not reply to calls and text messages seeking comment on the attack.
Increasing insecurity
Imo State’s security has deteriorated, as has that of other states in Nigeria’s South-east, with frequent attacks by armed individuals.
Security organizations, government people, and institutions are frequently targeted in these attacks.
The latest incident occurred only 24 hours after gunmen stormed the home of a police inspector in Orogwe, a hamlet in the state’s Owerri West Local Government Area. In that incident, two of the gunmen were killed.
Gunmen attacked the same Orogwe Community last week, killing seven security guards.
The Nigerian government has blamed the deadly attacks in the region on the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra. However, the group has frequently denied involvement in the attacks.
The separatist party is leading the push for an independent state of Biafra to be formed from areas of Nigeria’s south-east and south-south.
Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the secessionist group, is being held in Abuja, where he is being tried for terrorism.
