A police spokesman confirmed that at least five policemen lost their lives in an assault by armed individuals in Nigeria’s southeastern Imo state.
In Nigeria’s southeastern states, armed factions have targeted police stations and government facilities, with authorities frequently attributing these attacks to the banned separatist group known as the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
However, IPOB denies any involvement in these incidents.
The attack in Imo state took place in the Ehime Mbano local government area, as confirmed by Imo police spokesman Henry Okoye. However, he did not offer immediate details as investigations into the incident are still ongoing.
According to reports from local media, the attack in Imo state resulted in at least eight fatalities, including both soldiers and members of Nigeria’s Civil Defence Corps, a paramilitary agency.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, has been plagued by widespread insecurity, including armed attacks and kidnappings in the northwest, a persistent Islamist insurgency in the northeast, and violent sectarian and herder-farmer clashes in the central region.
IPOB has been advocating for the southeastern region of Nigeria, the homeland of the Igbo ethnic group, to gain independence as a separate country.
During a three-year civil conflict that commenced in 1967 when the region attempted to secede under the name Republic of Biafra, over a million people perished, predominantly due to starvation.
