By Osita Chinedu
Unidentified armed men have shot and killed two local vigilante members in Iboko community of Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi state.
Confirming the incident to Channels Television on phone, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Ebonyi State command, Joshua Ukandu said that the yet to be identified gunmen opened fire on the two security guards on the Iboko Community market day and two lives were lost.
Ukandu further revealed that the bodies of the diseased have been deposited at the mortuary while the police continues her investigation to unravel the root cause of the killings and consequently apprehend the culprits.
Similar targeted attacks on vigilante/security operatives have become quite persistent in Ebonyi state.
On Monday January 15, 2024, a local vigilante, Blessing Onana was shot and killed by gunmen and a couple of others injured in an attack on the Ngboejeogu Central Security, Ngbo Court, Ohaukwu LGA of Ebonyi state.
According to the Ohaukwu Local Government Area Chairman, Odono Onwe, who confirmed the incident before newsmen, “We are saddened over the cruel and bloody invasion of the Office of Ngboejeogu Central Security at Ngbo Court by faceless gunmen. Severally, our security men have been battered, humiliated, abused and murdered gruesomely.”
Around March 2023, after the relaunch of Neighbourhood Security Watch by the Dave Umahi led administration in Ebonyi following the disbandment of the Ebubeagu Security Network by a Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki, the commander of the Neighbourhood Watch in Okposi, Ohaozara Local Government Area, Mr. Dickson Solomon was attacked by gunmen.
According to the Local Government Chairman, Ajah Consider who made this known in a press briefing, Mr. Dickson narrowly survived the attack as his assailants rained bullets on him.
Joseph Nwanja, a security operative with Ebubeagu Security Network in Okposi, Ohaozara Local Government Area was on Sunday, October 30, 2022 gunned down at a checkpoint in the area by some unidentified gunmen.
