Panic In Ihiala As Unknown Gunmen, Soldiers Takeover LGA

Information from Ihiala, the adminstrative headquarters of Ihiala Local Government Area in Anambra State indicates that residents in the community have been in fear since morning following the takeover of the council area by unknown gunmen and men of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.

It was gathered that as early as 6 o’clock on Tuesday morning, the unknown gunmen in a very large number came out on the streets and stopped residents from opening their shops.

According to close watchers, the unknown gunmen on several motorcycles with AK-47 riffles, chased the residents indoor, moved from one street to another freely for hours.

Resident who spoke on condition of anonymity said there was no case of killing, but, the unknown gunmen “will ask if this is your house. If you say yes, they will ask you to enter into the house. They will watch you enter the house and go their way”.

We learnt that, commercial banks, other corporate businesses including the Nkwogbe market was completely shot down.

Today display of force by unknown gunmen in Ihiala area maybe the first time the armed group is coming out massively since young soldiers were deployed to the area early week of February, 2023.

The young soldiers had used the Uli town hall building as a base. The young soldiers do move from one community to another within Ihiala Local Government Area.

There have been series of reports of houses allegedly burnt down by the young soldiers at Ammaputu area in Uli community which is a boundary between Ihiala and Oguta local government area in Imo state. The houses were said to owned by parents of suspected members of the unknown gunmen group.

The unknown gunmen on Tuesday, according to eyewitnesses, operated from 6 o’clock in the morning till 11 a.m when heavy present of men of the Armed Forces of Nigeria with high precision weapons advanced towards them.

As at the time of filing in this report, it could not be ascertained if the Nigerian soldiers have had contact with the armed group, which the unknown gunmen were said to have beat a retreat while the soldiers on foot advanced through Ihiala-Orlu road, matching towards them.

It would be recalled that there were announcements by a group of people who identified themselves as Biafra in Exile, that, Monday 8th to Thursday 11th, this week has been declared as sit-at-home in the southeastern part of Nigeria often referred to as Biafra land.