Two policemen and a civilian were on Monday shot dead at the Ahiara Junction in the Ahiazu Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State.
The attack came by 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 nation.
Our correspondent gathered that on arrival, the attackers opened fire on the cops who were in uniform.
They killed two policemen on the spot while a stray bullet killed a passers-by.
The source said, “Two policemen have been killed now 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 the command had declared a manhunt for the fleeing suspects.
He said, “The Commissioner of Police, CP Aboki Danjuma, Commander 34 Artillery Brigade and Joint Task Force operatives combing the scene of crime for evidence that will possibly lead to the arrest of the hoodlums responsible for the attack and killing of two policemen at the Ahiara Junction, in Ahaizu Mbaise LGA of Imo State.”
Our correspondent saw video clips of the lifeless bodies of the policemen and the civilian.
Our correspondent recalls that on Saturday evening, the lifeless body of the traditional ruler of Otulu Autonomous Community in the neighboring Ezinihitte Mbaise LGA, Eze Joe Ochulor, was found at the neighbouring Aboh Mbaise LGA.
The body was found on the roadside on Saturday evening after the monarch was kidnapped from his Palace on Saturday morning.
Also, a few days earlier, the ward chairman of the People 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 he was the one they were looking for, they shot at him repeatedly and made sure that he was dead before they left the scene.