Gunmen Kill, Set Ablaze 2 US Consulate Staff, 2 Policemen In Anambra

Two United States (US) consulate personnel and two police operatives attached to their convoy have been killed and set ablaze by suspected gunmen in Anambra State.

LEADERSHIP gathered that the incident happened at about 3. 30pm yesterday on Atani-Ossomalla Road in Ogbaru local government area of the state.

The hoodlums, according to sources, attacked the convoy of the US consulate and killed two of its staff members, two of the four police escorts attached to the convoy.

The sources said the gunmen after setting their corpses ablaze also burnt their vehicle.

It was also gathered that the hoodlums abducted the other two police escorts attached to the convoy and the driver of the second vehicle the US consulate personnel were travelling in.

The public relations officer of the police command in the state, DSP Ikenga Tochukwu, who confirmed the incident, said that a team of the Joint Security Forces had been dispatched to track down the hoodlums and rescue those they abducted.

He stated that the command regretted the incident, complaining that it was wrong for a convoy of such high calibre officials to enter the state without recourse to the police in the area or any other security agency.

He stated that no citizen of the US was in the convoy.

Tochukwu said the state police command, however, remained focused in its efforts towards making sure that the state was purged of all criminal elements and criminality.