The attackers opened fire on the cops who were in uniform in the area, killing them instantly while another civilian who was a passerby was hit by a stray bullet.
Gunmen have struck again in Imo State, killing two Nigerian policemen and a civilian at Ahiara junction in the Ahiazu Mbaise Local Government Area of the state.
The attack came on Monday at the time the new Commissioner of Police in the state, Danjuma Aboki, was in the area on a morale-boosting visit to his officers in the Mbaise general area.
The attackers opened fire on the cops who were in uniform in the area, killing them instantly while another civilian who was a passerby was hit by a stray bullet.
A source said, “Two policemen have just been killed at Ahiara junction. On arrival, the gunmen opened fire at the direction of the policemen and killed two on the spot. A stray bullet also hit a young man and he died on the spot. The video clips of the lifeless bodies of the victims are circulating online. This is very unfortunate."
When contacted, the spokesperson for the police in the state, Henry Okoye, said that the command had declared a manhunt for the fleeing suspects.
He said "The Commissioner of Police Imo State Command, CP Aboki Danjuma, Commander 34 Artillery Brigade and Joint Task Force (JTF) operatives are combing the scene of crime for evidence that will possibly lead to the arrest of hoodlums responsible for the attack and killing of two Policemen at Ahiara Junction, in Ahaizu Mbaise LGA of Imo State."
Only on Saturday evening, the lifeless body of the traditional ruler of Otulu autonomous community in the neighbouring Ezinihitte Mbaise LGA, Eze Joe Ochulor was found dead at the neighboring Aboh Mbaise LGA.
The capitulated lifeless body was found on the road side on Saturday evening after the monarch was kidnapped from his palace on Saturday morning.
Also, few days earlier, the ward chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in the Ife/ Akpodim/ chokoneze ward in the Ezinihitte Mbaise Local Government Area of the state, Chiedoziem Anyanwu was assassinated in the presence of his wife.
On arrival, his killers demanded to see him. Immediately they confirmed that he was the one they were looking for, they shot him repeatedly and made sure that he was dead before they left the scene.