Three vigilante operatives have been killed by a gang of rampaging hoodlums in Abagana, Njikoka local government area of Anambra State.
The hoodlums also set ablaze Abagana Police Station during the attack.
The bandits were said to have stormed Abagana community at about 9pm on Friday and attack the office of the vigilante group in the town, as well as the police station, which is also located close to the vigilante group’s office.
Sources in the area narrated that the bandits engaged both police and vigilante operatives in a gun duel that lasted for about 45 minutes, which resulted in the death of three Vigilante members.
A resident of the community, Mr. Nnaemeka Obitube, stated that apart from the three vigilante operatives, several persons, including himself and one of his friends, who he simply named as Odi, sustained bullet wounds.
Obitube said that a bullet hit him on his arm, and that he had already been treated.
Narrating the incident, Obitube said: “It was very unimaginable. It was Chelsea match that kept me outside at that time. The boys came prepared, they shot three vigilante operatives on arrival, then drove down to Enugwu-Ukwu, turned back and stopped in front of the police station and vigilante office.
“They set the detainees free and set the facilities ablaze.
“The corpses (of the slain vigilante operatives) are still lying by the roadside, along Union Bank to secretariat. RIP to the dead who paid the ultimate price.”
He gave names of two of the three slain vigilante men as Agu-Rice and Mr. Benjamin Ilonze.
He, however, said that he could not identify the third vigilante because he was badly shot on the face.
Spokesman of the State Police Command, DSP Ikenga Tochukwu, who confirmed the incident, however, stated that only two vigilante men were killed by the bandits.
He said that Police operatives during the attack overpowered the bandits, and forced them to flee, adding however, that the hoodlums before escaping threw explosives into the police station and succeeded in setting part of the station ablaze.
The PPRO said: “They (bandits) only threw petrol bomb on old structure in the station which affected the building partially.
“With the help of fire service operatives, that responded promptly, the fire was put off. Patrols has been intensified in the state. The gunmen fled the scene as a result of the superior fire of the police.”
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