Nigeria: Multiple Attacks, Arrest of Police Operatives for Murder, Other Top Stories From South-East

9 September 2024

This is a review of top events which made headline in Nigeria's South-east within the past week

Nigerian governor warns contractors over failure to complete projects

Last Sunday, we brought you a report that Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State ordered officials of the government "to go after" contractors who failed to complete their projects in the state.

The governor asked contractors to ensure "timely completion of projects" and warned that his administration would fight contractors who renege on project agreements.

Multiple attacks, killing of police operatives

It was a moment of mayhem when gunmen carried out multiple attacks and killings across Nigeria's South-east.

The attacks and killings began in the early hours of Tuesday in Oba, a community in Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State.

The hoodlums attacked and bombed Oba Police Divisional Headquarters and killed a police operative during the attack.

Apart from the police facility, the Oba Community Civic Centre was also affected by the bomb from the gunmen.

Some hours later, armed persons also attacked the secretariat of the Isiala Mbano Local Government Area headquarters, Umuelemai, in Imo, another state in the South-east.

The hoodlums killed two persons said to be members of Ebubeagu, a local security outfit created by the Imo State Government.

Apart from the killing victims, the attackers also razed several buildings and vehicles within the secretariat during the attack which occurred at about 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

It was unclear as of press time if the gunmen were the same people who carried out the previous attacks.

The same Tuesday night, gunmen invaded Umulogho in Obowo Local Government Area of Imo State.

The attackers, believed to be members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), subsequently returned to the community on Wednesday morning and killed a police operative.

The armed persons, during the Wednesday attack, were said to have spent more than an hour profiling residents of the area until they identified and killed the operative.

The repeated attacks and killings underscored that insecurity in the South-east region shows no signs of abating.

Police chief orders detention of officers over alleged murder

There was a mild drama on Wednesday when the Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Nnaghe Obono, ordered the arrest and detention of some officers for the alleged murder of an unidentified civilian in the state earlier in the day.

The police said the unidentified officers allegedly murdered the civilian along Owerri Road in Onitsha, Onitsha North Local Government Area of the state.

They said the officers were attached to a police patrol team in the state.

The police said a preliminary investigation showed that a police corporal was a prime suspect in the alleged murder.

The latest development highlights the growing incidence of harassment, brutality and extrajudicial killings by police operatives in Nigeria.

Prosecution of quack doctors in Enugu

Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State raised the hopes of many residents when he vowed to prosecute quack doctors in the state.

Mr Mbah decried the mass migration of Nigerian healthcare professionals outside the country and consequently revealed his strategies to tackle the situation.

Nigerian lawyer arraigned for alleged murder disrupts court proceedings

It was a moment of drama on Friday when a Chief Magistrate in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, remanded a lawyer, Sunday Ununu, for alleged murder and disruption of court proceedings.

Mr Ununu, 45, appeared before the court on two counts of unlawful possession of firearm and murder.

The lawyer entered the dock but angrily walked out of it and on the court, prompting the magistrate, Ojemba Isu-Oko, to remand him in the correctional centre and adjourned the case until 20 September for a hearing.

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