RESIDENTS of Ebonyi State fled for their lives today as gunmen believed to be IPOB members entered Abakaliki, the state’s capital.
As gunshots ripped through the air, markets, banks, and gas stations that had opened earlier in the day closed.
Along the Abakaliki-Enugu expressway, the gunmen, who were reportedly wearing masks, destroyed a portion of the Aha Of market.
According to reports, the group’s activity was a part of enforcing the five-day sit-at-home rule that had been imposed in the area.
The sit-at-home campaign started on Friday, but Ebonyi locals resisted it.
Anyanwu promise to provide more information after stating that no one was killed in the incident.
““There is no cause for alarm, Ebonyi State is calm. However, if anything to the contrary is confirmed, I will come up with updates/briefs, please, “he said in a statement.
The Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) headquarters were burned in Imo State prior to the current situation.
As hoodlums held the three states hostage for the most of Friday and Saturday, it is reported that about 10 persons were killed during the weekend in the states of Anambra, Enugu, and Imo.
The information was received as police announced the mobilization of their operational and intelligence assets to put an end to the rule of the ravaging gunman.
According to reports from the area, the recent series of killings increased after Simon Ekpa, the purported spokesperson of the outlawed group, ordered a 5-day stay-out-of-home ban beginning on Thursday.
Following the arrest and prosecution of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu by the federal government, Finland-based Ekpa, who became more relevant in the activities of the outlawed group, declared on December 6 via his social media accounts a complete lockdown of the South East from December 9 to 14.
On December 13, he clarified, there won’t be a lockdown.
According to eyewitness accounts, 10 people were killed by gunmen who were active on Friday on Owerri-Okigwe Road in Imo State, Umunachi in the state’s Isiala Mbano LGA, and Umunna in the Onuimo LGA.
Two expatriates overseeing the ongoing building of Owerri-Okigwe Road phase II were also abducted by the gunme.
The foreign workers were abducted in Umunachi after two people believed to be their security guards were killed. They are reportedly employees of the German construction company Cremburg.
Gunmen reportedly opened fire at Umunna junction, killing two people. This was another killing. A viral video showed the two men laying in a pool of their own blood.
Isa Adamu, also known as Ike, a witness, reported that eight persons, including several technicians who had gone to the town to repair a vehicle, were killed by gunmen on Friday.
The rampaging gunmen also killed Prince Chidi Iheme, the older brother of Nollywood star Osita Iheme, also known as Pawpaw, in Owerri, the state capital.
Iheme was assassinated at Ubomiri in the state’s Mbaitoli LGA while attending a rally sponsored by Akarachi Amadi, the APC candidate for the Mbaitoli/Ikeduru Federal Constituency.
Martin Eke, the state commissioner for solid minerals, who is currently recovering from machete cuts sustained by their attackers, was reportedly in the same car as him.
Akarachi expressed his sorrow at Iheme’s passing while denouncing the violence in a statement provided by his media assistant, Darlington Irobi.
The hoodlums in Enugu are alleged to have murdered two persons at Park Lane, and recordings of other murders in the state have also gone viral.
