24th May, 2022
Gunmen in Anambra have reportedly killed a pregnant Adamawa woman, her four children and six others.
All the victims hailed from the northern part of Nigeria.
The pregnant woman and her children were killed at Isulo, Orumba North Local Government Area of the state, the Daily Trust reported on Tuesday.
The killings marked another dimension in the gruesome attacks by gunmen believed to be militants of the outlawed separatist movement, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.
The same gang was believed to have beheaded an Anambra lawamker Okechukwu Okoye and his campaign manager, at the weekend.
The Sarkin Hausawa of Orumba North LGA, Alhaji Sa’id Muhammad, yesterday said northerners in Anambra State have resolved to leave the state because of the constant attacks by members of the Eastern Security Network (ESN), the armed wing of the IPOB.
In an interview with Daily Trust, Muhammad said the killing of the pregnant woman together with her four children by gunmen was not new to them as many of his people have been killed in such a callous manner.
“The woman was from Adamawa State. Before her death, she lived in Orumba South, and on Sunday, she visited her friends with her four children.
“It was on her way back home in Orumba South that she was killed. She was being conveyed by a commercial motorcyclist when they were ambushed by the gunmen. They murdered her and her four children but the motorcyclist escaped,” he said.
Five commercial motorcycle riders were also killed and their bikes burnt at Onocha LGA. The bodies of four of the deceased were deposited in the morgue while the fifth one was burnt to ashes.
Mohammed said another man, Abdullahi, who was selling roasted meat by the roadside at Nnanka, was also killed at his suya spot.
“His body was by the roadside since Sunday evening until in the afternoon on Monday when I called the police DPO and informed him about it and requested him to help us recover the remains.
“He told me that he cannot send his men there because of the sit-at-home order. We are now planning to leave for the North as we can no longer stay here…They are killing us on daily basis,” the Sarki said.
He said his younger brother, Aliyu, was also killed two months ago.
Daily Trust reports that some trucks conveying goods to the South were also set ablaze in Anambra at the weekend and the drivers and other occupants were killed, injured or disappeared without a trace. Some truck drivers of northern extraction said that they are now operating with fear in the South East region.
Adamu Shu’aibu, who works with a private company in the region said that the rate at which the militants were attacking and killing drivers was alarming.
“I lost many of my colleagues to the nefarious activities of the terrorists and the killings are not being reported. Many of our colleagues have abandoned the driving job. The gunmen mostly attack drivers on some routes that have few or no security personnel.”
A senior police officer who did not want to be named confirmed the Isulo attack.