Reports reaching our News Desk say gunmen suspected to be hoodlums attacked the Nnewi South Local Government Headquarters in Ukpor, Anambra State, abducting a woman identified as a policewoman and her husband.
According to the report, the gummen invaded the community on Friday night and killed the policewoman who operated a shop at the front of the Local Government Secretariat located in Umuhu Ukpor.
It was gathered that the gummen also shot and severely injured the husband of the policewoman during the attack.
The policewoman had reportedly suspended the operation of her shop and left the area, following the rising insecurity and operation of gummen in the area, which sends dangerous signals, especially shortly after the attack on the local government headquarters where they set some buildings and offices ablaze and killed a security guard.
She, however, started opening the shop again feeling that the situation had calmed down.
The President General of Ukpor Improvement Union, Chief Ignatius Nwawulu, who confirmed the report, said the body of the policewoman was found at Ulasi River on Saturday morning, while her husband was also seen there with bullet wounds.
He decried the worsening security situation in the area, regretting that all their efforts to ameliorate the situation and bring lasting peace and security in the community have not yielded the expected result.
“The situation has surpassed what the town union or the community itself can handle on its own. We have made several efforts, but to no avail. I have done everything possible, just to bring peace and security; risked my life just to talk to this people to see how these kidnappings and killings can be stopped; but it is getting higher everyday.
He also advised the residents to be very vigilant now, given the situation of insecurity in the area.
“My advice to them now is: don’t go anywhere, or else it is necessary for you to go; stay within your premises; always be vigilant; if you notice an unknown face, take cover and report; and always let your neighbour or relative know your whereabouts at any time.”
Chief Nwawulu further revealed that there is currently no single presence of security agencies in the community and other neighbouring communities in the local government area; which he said makes the residents of the area prone to attacks.
He also confirmed that the gunmen had earlier gone from house to house to forcefully disarm the local vigilante and local security personnel in the various communities under the local government.
He said: “There’s nothing we can do on own now; we don’t police, we don’t have vigilante, we don’t have army as. We are left to our own God. So, that’s the situation now.
“In every town in Nnewi South Local Government, there’s nothing like security. We are on our own now. Everybody is on his own. If some people invade your house now, there’s nobody to run to, nobody to help you; nothing nothing.”
Reacting to the incident, the spokesperson of the Anambra State Police Command, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga described it as pure murder and very unfortunate.
“This is an example of a pure murder; and an attack on a security agency is a threat to the soul of the nation,” he said.
“It is a very unfortunate one. What happened in Ukpor is an example of murder, where a policewoman was off duty, and some hoodlums went to her house and attacked her, murdered her and shot her husband.
The man is currently receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital, while the remains of the policewoman has been deposited in a morgue.
The PPRO however, asserted that the Command is not discouraged by this situation; adding that instead, they have intensified patrol within that area. “And I assure you that the people that perpetrated the act will not go unpunished” he warned.
The Police image maker also dismissed the claim that there is no presence of security personnel in the area, and wondered why one could make such claim, even when the person attacked and murdered was also policewoman.
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