The Anambra State police command has confirmed the killing of seven persons by gunmen at Atani, the headquarters of Ogbaru local government of the state.
This comes as the Hausa community in the state alleged that it has become targets attacks by armed hoodlums.
Mahmud Imam, the Secretary-General, Hausa Community in the state, had in a statement on Monday, alleged that gunmen attacked its members at night in Atani.
Imam said properties worth millions of naira were also destroyed during the attack.
He called on the state government and other relevant agencies to intervene in the situation, adding that they had peacefully lived with the host communities for close to 200 years now.
The group said timely interventions would avoid further killings of their people and bring an end to such activities in the state.
The statement read, “In view of the recent escalation of the insecurity situation in the state, our people have become targets of series of attacks by unknown gunmen operating in different parts of the community.
“It’s worthy of note that these attacks starting in October 2021, had resulted in the loss of many lives and properties worth millions of naira also destroyed.
“Moreover, we have been living peacefully with our host communities within the state for almost 200 years without any serious misunderstanding, therefore we are calling on all relevant stakeholders to, as a matter of urgency, intervene and bring an end to such criminal activities because we are law-abiding citizens going about our lawful business in the state.
“Anambra is our state we do not have any other place to go. More recently on April 18, these unknown gunmen attacked our people residing at Atani in Ogbaru Local Government and which caused about seven lives. This happened in a location within the vicinity of the local government secretariat at night.
“It should be noted that from October 2021 to date, our people are being killed by these faceless unknown gunmen every month in the following locations, Aguata, Nnewi South; North, Idemili, and Ihiala Local Government Areas of the state.
“Finally, we call on the state government to come to our rescue to avoid further killings of our people and the state in general, the statement concluded.
However, the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, in his reaction, urged the public to disregard the report, saying the information is not totally correct.
Ikenga, however, confirmed that hoodlums who wanted to attack the local government headquarters but were repelled, began to shoot sporadically, killing seven persons.
According to Ikenga, to set the records straight, “Police operatives in the early hours on 18/4/2022 foiled an attempt of arson by some miscreants at Ogbaru LGA. The Police operatives engaged and resisted the hoodlums from causing damage to the LGA structure.
“The hoodlums in a bid to escape started shooting sporadically and unfortunately bullets hit some persons while seven other persons were fatally wounded during the foiled arson in the LGA. Further details revealed that the persons affected were civilian guards and motorcycle operators working in and within the Local Government Area.
“I urged the Hausa community leadership to come forward with their evidence with videos and pictures to enable the Police to investigate properly.
“Meanwhile, Police Operatives have since taken over the area and calm has also returned in the area.”