Friday evening, a group of armed gunmen launched a brazen assault on a police checkpoint at Opobo Junction along the Aba-Ikot Ekpene Expressway in Abia State. The attack tragically resulted in the deaths of two policemen and left another officer injured.
The incident occurred during the officers’ routine evening stop-and-search operations at the junction. Witnesses reported that within minutes, six gunmen arrived in a Sienna sport utility vehicle and attacked the checkpoint with lethal force.
Eyewitnesses described chaotic scenes as gunshots echoed through the area, causing residents and traders at the nearby Ehere market to flee in fear. Shops along the route quickly closed, with some traders abandoning their goods in the rush to seek safety.
This attack follows heightened security concerns in the region. Earlier reports from SaharaReporters detailed a similar incident on May 30, when gunmen targeted a military checkpoint at Obikabia Junction in Aba. The assailants, believed to be enforcing a sit-at-home order declared by IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra), engaged in gunfire and set ablaze a military patrol truck during the incident.
The gunmen, reportedly dressed in black and heavily armed, sporadically fired shots during the attack at Opobo Junction, highlighting ongoing security challenges in the area.
Local authorities have yet to provide further details on the identities or motives of the attackers. The community remains on edge as security forces intensify efforts to apprehend those responsible and restore calm to the area.