ENUGU (Nigeria), Masked gunmen killed a passenger and set a sienna vehicle ablaze at the popular Holy Ghost roundabout, Enugu North Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria’s South-east.
The gunmen, said to be members of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) enforcing the suspended Monday sit-at-home order, also snatched away a minibus during the attack.
The incident happened at about 6:30 a.m. Monday.
A tanker driver, Anthony Ezeke, who witnessed the incident, said that the gunmen stormed the area in a convoy of three vehicles.
He said the masked gunmen set the Sienna vehicle ablaze after pouring petrol on it.
“They (gunmen) were shouting at some of the drivers there for coming out on a sit-at-home day. Suddenly, a Sienna vehicle went into flames. The passengers and driver ran away,” Ezeke said.
A bus driver, who also witnessed the attack, but asked not to be named, said that the gunmen killed a passenger who was negotiating the fare with the Sienna driver.
He said the gunmen ordered the passenger, who was to travel to Abakiliki, the Ebonyi State capital, to lie down, but he hesitated to prompt the hoodlums to shoot him.
“Driver was not killed, he ran away. But the gunmen snatched a minibus from another driver. They were wearing masks,” he said.
It was learnt that the gunmen had issued warnings to the Sienna drivers to stop operating on Mondays.
Gunmen attacks in the South-east have increased in recent times.
IPOB, a group seeking the creation of an independent State of Biafra which they want to be carved out from Nigeria’s South-east and some parts of the South-south, has been accused of being responsible for the deadly attacks across the two regions.
Source: Nam News Network