ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The usual activities in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital, on Monday morning, were disrupted following shootings by gunmen suspected to be members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB).
A development that resulted in many shop owners closing their business premises for fear of being attacked as roads within the capital city were deserted.
It was gathered that the said gunmen reportedly shot into the air at Ezzamgbo Junction, Ishieke Junction, and other places in the state, Channels TV reports.
A visit to some parts of Abakaliki showed that normalcy has returned but the roads remain empty with no vehicular or human activities.
A trader who gave her name as Nworie Chiamaka, who witnessed one of the activities of the gunmen in their bid to enforce the sit-at-home order, said “They were three with bikes.”
She added: “I don’t know them but they just covered their face. They stopped here and started shooting everywhere. So, many people started running inside.”
Chiamaka said the suspected IPOB members set a shop in her area on fire before leaving the scene.
Reacting, Governor David Umahi in a statement signed and made available to journalists in Abakaliki by the Commissioner for Information and State Orientation Uchenna Orji, directed all security agencies and the Ebube-agu outfit to neutralize any miscreant found with a gun and or dangerous weapon in the state.
On their part, the Ebonyi State Police Command through a press statement advised the public to ignore what it described as fake news on some nefarious activities of gunmen.
Also, the command’s spokesman SP Chris Anyanwu, stated that the Commissioner of Police in Ebonyi State Aliyu Garba warned those peddling rumours to desist from such acts as they could be viewed and treated as criminal offences.