There was tension in Aba, Abia State, on Thursday, following the killing of two soldiers by yet-to-be-identified gunmen at a military checkpoint at the Obikabia Junction in the Obingwa Local Councils of the state.
Though the Indigenous People of Biafra was yet to claim the attack, the development came following the warning to the people of the South-East to stay indoors on May 30, to mark Biafra Day.
Business activities were paralysed across states in the South-East, as the IPOB enforced sit-at-home to mark what it called Biafra Day.
The group, in a statement by its spokesman, Emma Powerful, announced that it would mark the day in honour and memory of those killed in the course of Biafra.
It also warned residents to stay at home and honour the hero and heroines who it said fought for the emancipation of the people of Biafra.
In another statement, it warned the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, to shift its convocation earlier slated for May 30 and the West African Examination Council against fixing the examination on the said date.
The News Agency of Nigeria gathered that the gunmen, after the attack on the soldiers, also burnt down security patrol vehicles and grounded activities in most towns of the South-East states.
A source said, “It appears as if the gunmen had someone monitoring the soldiers and giving information to their colleagues. The soldiers were sitting down at the outpost when the gunmen drove past, slowed down, alighted from the cars and started shooting at them.
“After executing their evil act, they set the outpost and patrol van ablaze and, in the process, a 25-year-old young man was hit by stray bullets and was rushed for medical attention immediately the gunmen left the scene.”
After the incident, police helicopter and military aircraft were sighted hovering around the city centre, while a security agent who spoke on condition of anonymity said the gunmen could not be linked to the IPOB group.
“You can’t rule out IPOB members, but some other groups, armed robbers, kidnapping gangs looking for arms and weapons can take advantage of the sit-at-home to carry out such acts.
“The cars they came with could have been stolen from their owners. It could be that they are cars of kidnapped victims. They chose a spot and launched the attack.
“Obingwa is not known as IPOB members’ enclave. There are crimes associated with Obingwa and that Ogbor Hill area and, like I said, only a well-investigated report can reveal the identity of the attackers,” the military source said.
The South East Governors’ Forum, on Thursday, however, condemned the attack which left two soldiers dead.
newsmen in Owerri, on Thursday, the Chairman of the forum and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, described the attack as “unfortunate”.
He said, “On behalf of my brother governors in the South East Governors’ Forum, I condemn the incident and loss of the lives of soldiers who were on their duty posts. Without any provocation, they were attacked by the men of the underworld.
“The unfortunate thing is that it is going to act as a major setback to the peace process being pursued by the governors from the zone with the Federal Government, security agencies and other critical stakeholders on how best to resolve the problem of security in the region,” he said.
According to him, the incident would also portray our people in a bad light, as if we do not have sympathy for human beings.
The governor condoled with the Chief of Army Staff and the families of soldiers who lost their lives in the unfortunate incident.
“We here in the South-East will ensure that we leave no stone unturned to ensure peace needed for development in the region,” he added.
Uzodimma urged security agencies to go all out to ensure that those behind the dastardly act were caught and prosecuted
He noted that people of the South East, out of fear of the unknown and memories of the past, obeyed the directive of the proscribed group.
The governor, however, urged them, particularly the people of Imo State, to find courage and understand that a lot had gone to providing security for them.
“We have peace in Imo State; I want people to go about their businesses without fear of being molested by anyone.
“We are after the perpetrators. Those who think we shouldn’t live should not live,” he said.
The Coalition of South East Youth Leaders also condemned the attack on the military, describing it as “barbaric, wicked and condemnable in its entirety.”
According to the President-General of the group, Comrade Goodluck Ibem, “The attack is the handiwork of criminal elements hiding under the cover of Biafra’s struggle to perpetrate crime and destabilise Governor Alex Otti’s government, but their plans are dead on arrival.”
The group called on Otti “to remain resolute and steadfast in his determination to make Abia better while working hard to bring to book, those enemies of Abia who are hell-bent on destroying the peace they are currently enjoying.
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