Panic in Imo as unknown gunmen launch fresh attacks

Unknown gunmen on Wednesday launched fresh attacks in Owerri, Imo capital, causing pandemonium in and around the city.

News explained that gunmen, on Monday, attacked policemen on duty at Orji Road, killing four and carting away their rifles.

In the fresh attacks on Wednesday, residents, who were panicked by sporadic gunshots in different parts of the town, were said to have scampered to different directions for safety.

The shooting, it was gathered, took place around the popular Ikenegbu area, Wethedral Road, leading to the Government House, and Okigwe Road, stretching from the Government House Junction to the back of the Imo State University campus.

Other areas that were overrun by the gunmen were the Amawusa area on Douglas Road, and the Toronto Street, which stretches to MCC Road Junction.

A fish seller at Relief Market, near Fire Service Junction, Mrs Roseline Okeke, said that there was stampede at the market when the shooting occurred.

“Everybody ran for dear lives when the shooting was going on,” Okeke said.

Also, a POS operator at the Fire Service Junction, Miss Ukamaka Nwole, said that the assailants shot severally, when they came close to the Fire Service Police Station, before fleeing the area.

A detachment of police operatives was said to have responded to the attacks by firing tear gas to scare the hoodlums.

In a reaction, the spokesman of the Imo Police Command, ASP Henry Okoye, said the hoodlums had adopted a guerilla style, whereby they come out from their enclaves, unleash surprise attacks and go into hiding.

Okoye said that the Police Commissioner, Aboki Danjuma, has launched a head-on attack on the gunmen.

He said, “The Commissioner of Police has personally led men to the scenes.

“The command is on top of the situation.

“We will get the miscreants reponsible for the senseless attacks either dead or alive.

“We will so deal with the miscreants responsible for the attacks and killing of security operatives and unsuspecting members of the public.

“Let us encourage Imo people to report any suspicious persons or activities to the police.

“This is indeed a trying time but together we will come out victorious. Imo must be peaceful.”