Unknown gunmen attack INEC secretariat, police division in Anambra

Residents of Secretariat Road in Awka are currently on edge following reports of gunmen attack at B Division Police Station in the Anambra State capital.

The station is located opposite the massive Jerome Udoji State Secretariat built by the Peter Obi Administration.

Information has it that the gunmen were shooting in the air and attacking commuters plying the area late Sunday night, May 23, 2021.

According to a voice note by a yet to be identified person, he ran into the gunmen on his way home after dropping off a friend.

The voice note which appeared to have been sent to a friend said: “My brothers, pls thank God for me. Jnr it’s not gun shot at Ekwueme. Jnr. I went to drop Makuo at your house when I heard the gunshots. Afterwards, I went to buy something for my family and head home.

“As I was driving home, I ran into this people face to face at B Police Division and they stopped me. I was asked to open my door as he was trying to open it. I told him my door doesn’t open, thinking at first that it was police. He was trying to open the door to my car but it couldn’t open.

“He asked me to off my full light. In the process, I noticed that the driver of the car before me had been pushed into the gutter while another one fell into a dish directly opposite Apex Hospital.

“In fear and confusion, my mind told to reverse and run, I speedily did that and hit one and escaped. My brother, that was how I escaped, if not I would have been a dead man this night.”

It was also gathered that after attacking the police station, the gunmen stormed the state office of the Independent national Electoral Commission (INEC) and set it on fire before driving away.

A source said the gunmen that stormed the police station in 3 Hilux vehicles, shot for more than an hour, made a stop at Ekwueme Square where they shot for about 10 minutes, before proceeding to INEC office.

The number of casualties was yet to be ascertained as at the time of filling this report.

Efforts to speak with the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Ikenga Tochukwu, failed as his mobile phone was not reachable. (News Express)