3 policemen, 2 soldiers k*lled as gunmen attacked them at checkpoints

No less than three policemen and two soldiers met their untimely death on Saturday, January 28, 2023, after some yet-to-be-identified gunmen attacked them in Ebonyi and Enugu states.

It was gathered that the three policemen were shot at a border checkpoint on the Abakaliki-Enugu Expressway by hoodlums who operated in two Sienna buses.

While the murdered policemen were taken to a mortuary, another policeman, who was shot in the leg, was receiving treatment at a hospital in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.

The two soldiers, who were also killed, were shot at a military checkpoint at Owo along the Enugu-Abakaliki Expressway, Enugu East local government area of Enugu State.

According to a reliable police source, the gunmen first attacked the military checkpoint before proceeding to the border checkpoint, where they killed the three policemen.

“The gunmen stormed the checkpoint around 7pm and opened fire on the soldiers manning it, killing two of them in the shootout that followed.

“After the attack on the military checkpoint, they went to the police checkpoint at Owo/Idodo Junction, but the policemen ran away before they now moved to the police mobile checkpoint at Enugu-Ebonyi boundary, where they killed three police officers,” the source added.

Confirming the attack, the Ebonyi State Police Command, on Sunday, January 29, 2023, confirmed the attack on the police checkpoint.

“Yesterday’s attack by unknown gunmen at the Ebonyi/Enugu boundary took place around 6.08pm.

“Three police personnel of Operation Safer Highway were fatally injured and later confirmed dead. The hoodlums operated in two Sienna vehicles, drove into the checkpoint and opened fire on the policemen,” the police spokesperson, SP Chris Anyanwu said in a statement.

Major Jonathan Unuakhalu, the Deputy Army Public Relations Officer, did not take his calls or respond to a text message when this report was filed.