TWO gunmen were killed in the early hours of Monday when about 20 armed hoodlums attacked members of the Okija Vigilante at Ihiala, Anambra State.
Okija Vigilante is considered one of the most effective in the local government as the leadership of the community had been able to restore adequate security through a vibrant outfit. The Monday attack came as a surprise to the leadership of the community.
Two AK 47 ruffles were recovered from the gunmen and several others who sustained various degrees of injury are still at large.
One of the members of the vigilante outfit who spoke in a circulating video said the gunmen attacked them in their camp
He said: “These are people who call themselves unknown gunmen. They attacked us at our camp at Ogbenabo Okija this morning around 3am and started firing at us.
“We did not provoke them and they came to kill us for no reason. Maybe they are frustrated that Okija is secure.
“Unfortunately for them, they did not succeed. They thought they could overpower us, but we taught them a big lesson. We killed two of them and many others escaped with injuries. We want to assure our people that we are always ready for these hoodlums who come from outside the town”.
Meanwhile, the state police command has asked hospital operators and the people of the area to assist in arresting the fleeing gunmen who escaped with bullet wounds.
Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga who confirmed the Okija incident, disclosed that police operatives have inspected the scene of the event, adding that they have gone into partnership with the Okija branch of the Anambra Vigilante Group, AVG, to ensure that the fleeing suspects were apprehended.
Ikenga said: “From what our men were able to find out, the fleeing suspects sustained bullet injuries and we are working with AVG operatives to ensure we track them down.
“We are calling on operators of private hospitals and managers of public hospitals in the area to be at alert and report people with bullet wounds when they come for treatment.
“You may not entirely reject them, but upon admission, make sure you alert the police, so we can pick such a person and investigate the source of such bullet injury”.
