"As I speak with you, we have arrested two (gunmen). More are still coming because operatives are still combing the area to arrest other fleeing suspects," says a police spokesperson.
A police officer was, on Monday, killed when gunmen attacked another office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Owerri, Imo State, South-east Nigeria.
The attack occurred at about 2 a.m., PREMIUM TIMES learnt.
It comes about one week after gunmen attacked another INEC office in the Oru West Local Government Area of the same state, making it the eighth attack on the commission's facilities within the last four months across the country.
In the latest attack, the gunmen were said to have thrown an Improvised Explosive Device into the INEC facility, which destroyed several offices and vehicles parked on the premises.
However, some police operatives stationed at the commission's office were said to have engaged the hoodlums in a shoot-out, which resulted in the death of the police officer.
The police killed three of the gunmen in the attack.
The police spokesperson in the state, Michael Abattam, confirmed the attack to PREMIUM TIMES Monday morning.
"We lost one police officer in the attack, and one (another officer) was injured. But we neutralised three of the hoodlums," he said.
Mr Abattam, a chief superintendent of police, said two of the gunmen were arrested and that a few others might be arrested later.
"As I speak with you, we have arrested two (gunmen). More are still coming because operatives are still combing the area to arrest other fleeing suspects," Mr Abattam added.
Three AK-47 rifles, three pump action rifles, three sticks of dynamite, and four petrol bombs were among the items recovered from the gunmen during the operation, according to the police.
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Some photographs of the INEC facility showing some operational vehicles destroyed in the attack have been circulating on Facebook.
Also, a video clip showing one building with a destroyed roof has been circulating on Facebook.
INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu had, on 29 November, said the recent attacks on its facilities will not stop the commission from conducting the 2023 general elections.
Not the first time in South-east
Although the attacks on INEC offices have been happening across the country, the commission has recently become a target of attacks across the South-east.
The attacks have raised fears regarding the 2023 general elections in the region.
About four months ago, some suspected arsonists razed an INEC office in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State.
Two offices of the INEC, in May 2021, were set ablaze by gunmen in Ebonyi State, Nigeria's South-east. The offices are in Ezza North and Izzi local government areas of the state.
Another building belonging to the INEC was also set ablaze in Imo State in May 2021
Again, in September 2021, the commission's office was set ablaze in Awgu Local Government Area, Enugu State.
The attacks on INEC facilities and security agencies around the South-east and the South-south have been attributed to the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
But the group has repeatedly denied their involvement in the attacks.
IPOB is a group leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra, which it wants to be carved out from the South-east and some parts of the South-south.
