The security personnel killed were initially reported to be eight but later confirmed as five because some of those believed to be killed survived the attack and are in the hospital.
The Executive Director of a civic group known as the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), Okechukwu Nwanguma has condemned the gruesome killing of security personnel made up of soldiers, policemen and operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Imo State.
The security personnel killed were initially reported to be eight but later confirmed as five because some of those believed to be killed survived the attack and are in the hospital.
They were killed Tuesday morning in Umualumaku community in the Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of the state.
The members of the Joint Security Task Force were said to be in two trucks when they ran into an ambush.
In a statement he released on Friday, Nwanguma described the attack as heart-rending.
He said, “Our security agents are making sacrifices to secure our communities and should not be targeted and killed but should be supported by the communities. No rational person should support or condone attacks on and killing of our security agents.
“Security agencies should work with the community to identify, apprehend and decisively deal with the perpetrators, in accordance with the law. Community members should not be made to bear the brunt for the dastardly acts of a few misguided criminal elements.
“Scorched earth approach and indiscriminate targeting of the entire community, forcing community members to flee and rendering their community waste does not answer to the crime. Crime cannot be fought with crime.
“Security agents should work towards earning the confidence and cooperation of community members to fight criminals, rather than treating the entire community members as culprits of crimes for which that they are also victims.”