No fewer than three policemen and two soldiers were shot dead on Saturday by gunmen in Ebonyi and Enugu states.
The three policemen were shot at a border checkpoint on the Abakaliki-Enugu Expressway by hoodlums who operated in two Sienna buses.
PUNCH Metro gathered that another policeman, who was shot in the leg, was receiving treatment at a hospital in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.
Our correspondents gathered that the two soldiers were killed at a military checkpoint at Owo along the Enugu-Abakaliki Expressway, Enugu East LGA of Enugu State.
A reliable police source told our correspondent that the gunmen first attacked the military checkpoint before proceeding to the border checkpoint, where they killed the three policemen.
The source said, “The gunmen stormed the checkpoint around 7pm and opened fire on the soldiers manning it, killing two of them in the shootout that followed.
“After the attack on the military checkpoint, they went to the police checkpoint at Owo/Idodo Junction, but the policemen ran away before they now moved to the police mobile checkpoint at Enugu-Ebonyi boundary, where they killed three police officers.”
The Ebonyi State Police Command, on Sunday, confirmed the attack on the police checkpoint.
The police spokesperson, SP Chris Anyanwu, said, “Yesterday’s attack by unknown gunmen at the Ebonyi/Enugu boundary took place around 6.08pm.
“Three police personnel of Operation Safer Highway were fatally injured and later confirmed dead. The hoodlums operated in two Sienna vehicles, drove into the checkpoint and opened fire on the policemen.”
The Deputy Army Public Relations Officer, Major Jonathan Unuakhalu, did not take his calls or respond to a text message as of the time of filing this report.
