Nigeria Police officers

Police spokesperson said operatives have been mobilised to track down the gunmen.

Two police officers were on Thursday feared killed when gunmen attacked a police checkpoint along Agbani Road in Enugu South Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria’s South-east.

The incident happened at about 9 a.m. The gunmen were said to have opened fire on the police officers at the checkpoint, killing two on the spot.

A resident of the area told PREMIUM TIMES that about two officers were seen lying on the ground at the scene of the attack, but he was not sure if they were dead.

“Two of them are just lying there motionless. Nobody knows if they are dead or wounded,” he said.

When contacted, the police spokesperson in the state, Daniel Ndukwe, confirmed the incident to PREMIUM TIMES.

He could not, however, confirm the killing of the two police officers in the attack. He said the details of the attack were still sketchy.

“Yes. There was an attack on policemen on stop and search duty this morning by yet-to-identified hoodlums,” he said.

Mr Ndukwe said police operatives have been mobilised to track down the gunmen.

“Further development will be communicated, please,” the police spokesperson said.

Increased attacks

Like other states in the South-east, security in Enugu State has deteriorated lately with attacks by armed persons.

The latest attack comes less than two weeks after a police officer was killed by gunmen who attacked a police checkpoint in Ibagwa-Ani, a community in Nsukka Local Government Area of the state.

Earlier this month, two police officers were also killed when gunmen attacked Nkpamte Community in the Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of the state.

The Nigerian government has accused the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the region. But the group has repeatedly denied their involvement in the attacks.

The separatist group is leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra to be carved out from the South-east and some parts of South-south Nigeria.

The leader of the group, Nnamdi Kanu, is being detained in Abuja where he is facing trial for terrorism.

Mr Kanu appeared in court on June 28 in continuation of his trial. He is billed to appear in court again on November 14.

(PREMIUM TIMES)