By Mario Deepromoter
Heavily armed assailants have launched a fresh attack at a police station in Oba, located in the Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State.
The latest incident marks the third recent assault on law enforcement in the region, following attacks in Nnewi and Nnobi that occurred in August, resulting in the loss of several officers’ lives.
Reports emerging on Tuesday morning revealed that a police corporal, whose name has not been disclosed, was fatally shot during the latest attack, which happened in the early hour of the day.
Authorities from the Anambra State Police have verified the incident, indicating that the officer was killed after assailants, believed to be separatist militants, hurled a petrol bomb into the police facility.
“The suspected armed secessionist group started shooting sporadically in an attempt to gain entrance to the police station and threw petrol bombs at the security facility, which made some of the offices catch up with fire, including the Oba Civic Center.
“Unfortunately, a police corporal who was fatally wounded paid the supreme price, while the fire was put off with the help of other police officers on duty and the joint security responding team,” the State Command Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, told Daily Post.
Ikenga announced that operations began this morning, involving police-led joint security forces that include the Army, Navy, Civil Defence, and various other security agencies engaged in a coordinated offensive within Oba and its surrounding areas.
He reported that the Commissioner of Police, CP Nnaghe Obono Itam, characterized the assault as an invasion of security installations and an act of aggression against security personnel, viewing it as an affront to the very essence of the nation.
He pledged to ensure that those responsible for this reprehensible act are held accountable.