Unidentified gunmen launched an early morning attack on the Umunze Police Station in Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra State on Monday.
According to local sources and residents, the assailants stormed the police facility, firing several shots into the air before forcefully gaining entrance.
Eyewitnesses reported that the masked attackers took the officers by surprise.
One resident described the scene: “The masked hoodlums shot several times into the air as they marched toward the gate of the police premises.
It happened early this morning, and the gunshots woke the neighborhood, causing widespread panic.”
The assailants shot several officers, with some killed in the attack.
They also set parts of the premises ablaze using improvised explosive devices.
An eyewitness recounted, “They burnt some parts of the building and were about to cause more mayhem before the attack was repelled in an exchange of gunfire by the officers on duty.
The hoodlums then escaped back into their hideouts.”
This incident comes less than a month after a similar attack on the Oba Police Divisional Headquarters and Oba Civic Centre in Idemili South LGA, where a police corporal was killed and several others were injured, and the facility was also set on fire.
The Anambra State Police Command’s spokesman, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the incident and stated that a manhunt for the assailants has been launched.
“The Joint Security Forces comprising the Police, Army, Navy, Civil Defence, and other security agencies recovered five unexploded improvised explosives and are on the trail of the arsonists and armed secessionist group members who attacked the Umunze Police Station,” Ikenga said.
He further revealed that the armed group invaded the facility with improvised explosives, causing a fire to break out in part of the station.
“Unfortunately, two of the police operatives on duty during the gun battle, in a bid to resist the assailants from causing more havoc, paid the supreme price.
Their bodies have been recovered and taken to the morgue,” Ikenga added.
The state’s Commissioner of Police, CP Nnaghe Itam, visited the scene for an on-the-spot assessment to reinforce and reassess security deployment.
Ikenga also called for public assistance in the investigation, assuring that any information provided would be treated with utmost confidentiality.
