On Sunday, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) terrorists attacked Anambra state, killing seven people, attacking a police station, and torching vehicles. A mother and four of her children were among those killed in Isulo, Orumba North local government unit of the state.
Harira Jibril was the name of the mother who was assassinated by IPOB militants along with her four daughters. Harira, 32, was returning from a visit to her extended family when the terrorists murdered them, according to her husband Jibril Ahmad. Fatima (9 years old), Khadija (7 years old), Hadiza (5 years old), and Zaituna (2 years old) are her four children.
The other two took place at Abatete in Idemili North local government area while another man was killed at Nanka Orumba North local government area. These terrorists also, attacked a police station in Anaku in Ayamelum Local Government Area and set vehicles ablaze.
The terrorists have been spreading havoc for a long time amid agitation for secession have not spared the people of Anambra State and the South East in general.
Alhaji Sa’id Muhammad, the Sarkin Hausawa of Orumba North LGA, claimed Wednesday that northerners in Anambra State have resolved to leave the state due to repeated attacks by members of the IPOB’s armed branch, the Eastern Security Network (ESN).
Muhammad told Daily Trust in an interview that the killing of the pregnant woman together with her four children by gunmen was not new to them as many of his people have been killed in such a callous manner.
Anambra State House Of Assembly Member, Aid Kidnapped And Murdered
Also killed were Okechukwu Okoye, a legislator in the Anambra State House of Assembly who represented Aguata II Constituency, and his assistant Cyril Chiegboka. On May 15, 2022, Okoye, a member of the Aguata II State Constituency, was kidnapped in Aguata with his driver.
The legislator was later beheaded, and his head was discovered on Saturday in Nnobi, in the state’s Idemili South Council Area. Schools, parks, marketplaces, banks, offices, and roadways were all shut down across the state.
The Onitsha/Owerri expressway, as well as the Onitsha/Enugu expressway, the Onitsha/Asaba/Benin/Lagos expressway, and the Onitsha/Nnewi/Ekwulobia/Uga/Akokwa road, were all deserted.
“It’s the worst today, Monday,” a resident of Onitsha said, “because of the assassination of a lawmaker and his aide by yet-to-be recognized persons.”
Residents Withholding Information On Gunmen Terrorising Anambra- Police
The Anambra State Police command said Monday that it had identified some of the criminals terrorizing the state, stressing that there was nothing unknown about the gunmen as people tag them.
Addressing reporters in Awka, the state Commissioner of Police, Echeng Echeng said the command would go all out to deal with them, even as he frowned at the reluctance by indigenes of various communities in the state to volunteer information about the activities of criminals in their areas to help tackle the problem.
The CP noted that there is nothing unknown about the gunmen terrorizing Anambra State, to warrant calling then ‘unknown gunmen’.
“We have been saying that unknown gunmen is not the right name for these criminals. We are trying to mystify something that is not just there.
“It is time we go into demystifying them. These people are not spirits, they live with us, they are our nephews, our cousins, our brothers, and they live in communities. We know who they are.
“The problem of security is that of total silence as nobody sees something, nobody hears something and nobody says something.
“Security is collective and everyone has a part to play. Crimes are localized, and they happen in our communities. We should be able to come up with information of what is happening in our communities, not glorifying them and tagging them unknown gunmen, otherwise we will end up not making headways. We know them, we have actually arrested some of them and they are human beings.
“I want us to also shift the narrative that these criminals are Fulani. We have arrested some and taken out some during gun duels.
“So, when the communities that should help to contribute to security decide to stay quiet, that is not a good sign.
“Last week a person I didn’t know told me that a team of gunmen were operating at Umunze in a Hummer Jeep, I sent a team after them, and we were told they have moved to Umuchu and we pursued them and were able to take out four of them.
“I don’t know the man who gave me the information, but we used the information to fight the criminals. That black Hummer Jeep you see there (pointing to it) was recovered from the criminals.
“You can see what information can do. That is how powerful information is, and we expect people to give information,” Echeng said.
“The state police command has decided to go all out on these criminals. Their dens have been identified, and soon, news of their exploit will be made known.
“We will not spare any of them. Forget the narrative they push that they live in the forest, they create that impression and then return to the communities where they live.
“What they have in the forest are just shrines, and we have visited and destroyed most of them. These criminals live among the people”,
“I am not aware that any ransom was demanded, or that any ransom was paid,” Echeng said, denying that the slain Anambra lawmaker, Hon Okechukwu Okoye, was killed because he refused to pay a ransom.
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