The incident, which happened on Saturday, had unsettled the community as many residents fled their homes and business places.
While the police in the state have confirmed that two policemen were killed, many said that seven cops were shot dead during the attack.
Our correspondent gathered that on arrival, the gunmen opened fire on the policemen and killed some of them.
A source said “About seven policemen at a checkpoint along Aba Road, Okpala, gunned down by unknown gunmen earlier this morning.
“Police have stationed a massive checkpoint now at Okpala Junction. It is very unfortunate.”
When contacted, the police spokesman for the command, Henry Okoye, said that only two policemen “paid the supreme price.”
He told our correspondent in a telephone conversation that the gunmen were engaged in a gun duel by “the vigilant policemen on duty.”
According to him, the gunmen abandoned one of the operational vehicles they came in, adding that the vehicle which contained blood stains had been recovered by the police.
Okoye said that the operatives of the command had taken over the area with the view of instilling confidence in the minds of the residents of the area and with the plan of apprehending the suspects.
Our correspondent reports that gunmen had in April ambushed and killed five policemen and a couple at the same Okpala junction located on the Owerri – Aba Road.
Also in March, some gunmen ambushed five officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and killed them in the same Ngor Okpala LGA of the state.
