No fewer than four police officers at a stop-and-search checkpoint were killed by gunmen on Monday evening along the Owerri-Onitsha road in Imo State.
According to an eyewitness who claimed to be a resident of Irete in the Owerri West Local Government Area of the state, he said that fear couldn’t allow him and others to ascertain how many civilians were also shot.
He said, “The gunmen stormed one of the popular hotels where the police checkpoint was mounted at Irete around 6:30 pm and shot at the four policemen on stop-and-search duty, including a Point of Sale operator.
“They also shot dead a female point-of-sale operator and some pedestrians who were taken unaware and rushed to a nearby hospital. It was horrific. All the people around ran away for fear of being hit by stray bullets.
“This road has become a soft spot for them. Last time, they also shot dead several policemen on duty and civilians.
“Government should beef up security in this area to forestall further occurrences.”
Another indigene, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, claimed the attackers were enforcing the South-East’s Monday sit-at-home edict.
He added, “I didn’t know the Monday sit-at-home is still existing in Imo State. I thought it had been stopped, but with what happened today, people will no longer come out on Monday for fear of being killed by gunmen.”
When contacted via text message, Imo State Police Spokesman Henry Okoye was unable to comment at the time of filing this report.
