The police have confirmed the incident.
Masked gunmen, Tuesday, attacked some residents and traders in Ebonyi State, south-east Nigeria.
In a video clip, which has now gone viral, the attackers, numbering about nine, were seen shooting and chasing traders at a market in Isheke, a community in Abakaliki, the state capital.
The gunmen were said to be enforcing the controversial one-week sit-at-home declared by a faction of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
The hoodlums, dressed in red attire and patrolling in a light brown Sienna vehicle, were also seen setting some tricycles ablaze and destroying goods in the market.
"(There is) sit-at-home! Nnamdi Kanu must be released. No Nnamdi Kanu, no peace. You can see that Keke (tricycle) is burning," a voice, apparently one of the hoodlums, was heard speaking in the background of the video.
"Destroy everything. Burn them. I don't want anything to remain," the voice ordered, amidst gunshots by the attackers.
Motorcycle riders and traders in the market were seen scampering for safety, abandoning their motorcycles and wares.
In another clip circulating on various WhatsApp groups, a child -- apparently abandoned by her mother -- was seen seated on the ground in another section of the market while the gunmen shot in the air near her.
The clip did not show if the gunmen attacked the child or not.
The gunmen destroyed several goods. They were seen hitting a tricyclist with a plastic chair and their rifles while the tricyclist pleaded, assuring the attackers that he would not step out again on a sit-at-home day.
Police speak
The police spokesperson in the state, Onome Onovwakpoyeya, confirmed the incident but said no life was lost during the attack.
"The group came and shot sporadically at the new market opposite Liberation Estate, and our tactical team responded quickly, and people cleared," Ms Onovwakpoyeya, a superintendent of police, told reporters in Abakiliki.
"Police have intensified patrol within the town and even at the hinterlands," she added.
Background
Simon Ekpa, the leader of Autopilot, a faction of the IPOB, had, in a statement on 14 June, announced that there would be a one-week sit-at-home in the region.
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Mr Ekpa, a self-acclaimed prime minister of "Biafra Republic Government in Exile", said the sit-at-home would hold from 3 to 5 July and continue from 7 to 10 July.
The agitator said the proposed civil action was to demand the "immediate and unconditional release" of IPOB leader, Mr Kanu, who is detained at the facility of Nigeria's secret police, State Security Service.
He said the action was also in preparation for the conduct of "Biafra's self-referendum."
But Emma Powerful, the spokesperson of the IPOB faction led by Mr Kanu, would later disown the declaration saying the sit-at-home order did not emanate from the group.
Mr Ekpa, a Finnish-Nigerian citizen, hails from Ngbo, a community in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. But he stays in Finland, a North European country.
Ebonyi State is the only state in the South-east where residents often defy the IPOB's sit-at-home order.
Unlike other states in the region, hoodlums enforcing the sit-at-home order had rarely done so in Ebonyi before now.
This latest incident occurred exactly two days after a Nigerian senator, Ifeanyi Ubah, accused Mr Ekpa of enforcing the civil action in other parts of the region while ignoring Ebonyi, where he (Ekpa) hails from.
Mr Ubah, who represents Anambra South District, hails from Nnewi, a community in Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra State.
