…as hoodlums set federal high court ablaze
Two soldiers, Monday night were shot dead by unknown gunmen at a military check point at Timber Junction area, in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi state.
Killed also were two civilians a man and a woman who were hit by stray bullets.
According a top security source, the incident took place at around 9pm and the attackers carted away riffles belonging to the deceased.
Also, a source in the community, who didn’t want his name on print, revealed that the gunmen arrived the checkpoint in a white bus and as the military men stopped them for a search, they opened fire on them.
According to him, the situation threw the two busy towns of Amasiri and Afikpo into panic, as residents, especially petty traders hurriedly packed their goods and went home.
“It’s a very sad situation here. They said it was people suspected to be gunmen, who came to the checkpoint at Timber Shade (boundary Ehugbo and Amasiri) in white bus.
“As usual, it appeared the military were checking them and all of a sudden, they opened fire on them. Two of the military men, a man and woman, died. Others ran away.
“The area is as quiet as the graveyard. These bordering villages used to be very busy and people here are farmers and traders”, he stated
The Military was yet to react at the time of filling this report, while Commissioner for Police, Mr Garba Aliyu, could not pick calls and was yet to respond to a text message sent to him to react on the incident.
Meanwhile, hoodlums early hours of Tuesday, set ablaze the Federal High Court in Abakaliki.
The fire burnt down the high court library and security posts of the building.The building is located along the Enugu/Abakaliki Highway opposite the state People’s Democratic Party (PDP) State office.
No casualty was recorded in the attack but it was gathered that court records in the Library were completely destroyed. Fire fighters were mobilized to the scene and they helped to put the fire out before it could escalate to other sectors.
Spokesperson of Ebonyi Police Command, DSP, Loveth Odah confirmed the incident. She said the attackers came in their large numbers to carry out the attack on the court.