Gunmen kill 2 policemen, four others in Enugu community

Hoodlums at the weekend attacked Igga community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, killing two policemen and three vigilante operatives, otherwise known as Neighbourhood Watch Group.

Sources told newsmen that a day after the attack on the security operatives, soldiers and army and policemen invaded the community Saturday night, burning houses and shooting sporadically.

One villager was also confirmed dead when combined security operatives allegedly invaded the community following the attack on them by unknown gunmen.

Confirming the killing of the operatives, the command’s spokesman, Daniel Ndukwe, said the unprovoked and unwarranted attack and gruesome murder of two policemen and three Neighbourhood Watch Group members were carried out by “harboured criminal members of the Igga Community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area, in the evening hours of Friday.

He disclosed that on the same date, when the incident happened, a combined security team of three policemen and four Neighbourhood Watch Group provided security for a team of visiting investors from Lagos on a tour of a proposed agricultural investment site in the area.

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“However, the team was ambushed and attacked by a large group of the criminal elements, who opened fire on them.

“Upon the unprovoked sudden attack, members of the team scampered for safety, while an Assistant Superintendent of Police, ASP, who led the team, one Neighbourhood Watch personnel, and the three (3) member team of investors were later rescued by a policemen team that immediately mobilized to the crime scene. But the eventually murdered members of the team went missing and unaccounted for.

“However, in the course of a full-scale investigation and a search and manhunt operation launched thereafter, three males suspected to have masterminded the attack were arrested.

“Their revelations during interrogation led to the discovery and recovery of the slain policemen and Neighborhood Watch Group members in the forest on May 4, 2024.

“Their lifeless bodies were taken to the hospital, confirmed dead by doctors, and deposited in the mortuary for preservation and autopsy,” he said.