The situation in Ebonyi State continues to escalate as hoodlums set fire to a police van at Ukwagba village and resorted to firing sporadically in order to intimidate citizens and enforce the seven-day sit-at-home order declared by a faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), led by Simon Ekpa.
The hoodlums reportedly forced their way up to the Ukwagba police roadblock and requested that the policemen leave the area, claiming that they weren’t looking for a fight. They then went on to light the police van on fire.
On a different occasion, the thugs fired rounds indiscriminately at the Ishieke police checkpoint as their target. Police personnel ran for their safety out of fear as a result of this.
The thugs allegedly fired shots into the air at the Afiaohu market along the Abakaliki/Enugu Expressway, forcing the shop owners to run and leave their products behind.
The chairman of Ohaukwu Local Government Area, Prince Odono Okechukwu, condemned the burning of the police van and called on stakeholders to cooperate in addressing the insecurity in the area.
He pledged to apprehend the perpetrators and urged Traditional Rulers, Town Union Presidents, and community vigilantes to collaborate in promoting peace.
Jude Chikadibia Okpor, the Ebonyi Commissioner of Information and State Orientation, expressed shock and reassured the people that security personnel were taking action to maintain order in reaction to the incidences. He gave the people the go-ahead to keep up their legal operations.
