ARMED ATTACK

EBONYI STATE

–Herdsmen attack Ebonyi community, leaving a farmer critically injured.

Suspected Fulani herdsmen have reportedly butchered a farmer, Okeke Nkemjika in Amaeze Community in the Ivo local government area of Ebonyi State.

The incident, SaharaReporters learnt, occurred on Sunday.

The victim, who hails from Lolopa community in Abịa State but resides in the community, was reportedly attacked by the herdsmen at a palm plantation in the community where he was
working as the plantation keeper.

A community leader, Egwu Chibueze, told SaharaReporters that the herdsmen had been terrorizing the community for some time now.

He said that the herdsmen numbering about five had been spotted on Saturday night around a quarry located in the community.

“In the early hours of today, I got a call from the security officer at Yitter Quarry located at the former Setraco site at Umbro Ajanyim. He was complaining that he noticed the
movement of five herdsmen with rifles and matchetes along the farm area as he came out in the night to go round the company,” he said.

Egwu said he mobilized the youths and the police to go in search of the herdsmen.

He said that as they were heading towards the factory they saw two boys coming back from farm with palm nuts on their heads who told them they just spotted the herdsmen entering
the community.

According to him, when they moved towards the location but the herdsmen on sighting them fired gunshots in the air intermittently to scare the villagers away.

He said the herdsmen ran into Nkemjika at a palm plantation and attacked him with their matchetes.

When we got there, we saw that the herdsmen had attacked two men who came to carry palm nuts from the farm and they butchered one Okeke Nkemjika, the farm settlement keeper from
Lokpa.

Egwu noted that the victim, who received deep machete cuts on his back and arm was currently receiving treatment in the hospital.

http://saharareporters.com/2022/05/24/herdsmen-attack-ebonyi-community-leave-farmer-critically-injured

ANAMBRA STATE

–Police accuse residents of withholding information on gunmen terrorizing Anambra.

The police in
Anambra
State have accused residents of unwillingness to provide information on gunmen terrorizing the state.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Echeng Echeng, disclosed this on Monday while addressing journalists in Awka.

A lawmaker in the state was
beheaded
a few days ago after gunmen abducted him.

Mr Echeng said the gunmen who carry out the attacks in the state are not unknown.

“There is nothing unknown about the gunmen terrorizing Anambra State. We have been trying to mystify something that is not just there,” Mr Echeng said.

“These people are not spirits. They live with us. They are our nephews, our cousins, our brothers, and they live in our communities. We know who they are,” he said.

According to him, “the narrative that the gunmen are Fulani herders is not true. The people operating as gunmen are Igbos.”

The commissioner described the claim that the gunmen live in the forest as false. He said the gunmen usually return to their communities after they were done with the attacks.

He stressed that the terror group only has shrines in the forest, adding that some shrines had been destroyed by police operatives.

“These criminals live among the people. The major challenge police are having in the fight against the gunmen in Anambra State is that residents, especially community leaders in
the affected communities, are not giving information about the identities of these killer men to us.

“We should be able to come up with information of what is happening in our communities, not glorifying them and tagging them as unknown gunmen,” Mr Echeng added.

Increased attacks

Security in Nigeria’s South-east has deteriorated in recent times, with attacks by armed persons reported almost daily across the region.

Anambra State has witnessed some of the worst attacks in the region. The attacks often target security agencies, government officials, and facilities.

Mr Soludo
recently
visited Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the outlawed
Indigenous
People of Biafra (IPOB) in detention.

The governor said the visit to the IPOB leader was part of his “wider consultations with critical stakeholders” to ensure lasting peace and security in the South-east.

During his inauguration as the state governor, Mr Soludo had called for a dialogue with IPOB and similar groups in the state and region.

The governor, thereafter, announced an amnesty programme for the gunmen and declared an end to the sit-at-home order in the state. But residents have continued to obey the Monday
sit-at-home order in the state and across the region, mostly out of fear.

The attacks by the gunmen increased in the state shortly after Mr Soludo’s inauguration and announcement of an end to the sit-at-home order in the state.

The Nigerian government has accused IPOB of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the region. But the group has repeatedly denied their involvement in the attacks.

The separatist group is leading agitation for an independent state of Biafra to be carved out from the South-east and some parts of the South-south.

Leader of the secessionist group, Mr Kanu, is currently being detained in Abuja where he is facing trial for treason.

Mr Kanu appeared in court on May 18, in continuation of his trial. He is to
appear
in court again on May 26.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/ssouth-east/532048-police-accuse-residents-of-withholding-information-on-gunmen-terrorising-anambra.html

ANAMBRA STATE

–Petrol station saved as diesel tanker goes up in flames in Anambra.

A fuel station located along Umunya road, along the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, was on Tuesday saved from fire as a tanker laden with diesel fell within the area and went up in flames.

The tanker, a source said, fell inside the gutter after the driver lost control. The source said the tanker immediately went up in flames after the fall.

The incident happened on Tuesday morning at the popular Odumodu Junction, Umunya, Oyi Local Government Area.

“The diesel flowing out of the truck flowed through the gutter, generating flames and burning everything in its way.

“Men of Anambra State Fire Service have however arrived at the scene and are battling to quench the fire, with passersby who trooped out in their numbers,” he said.

It is yet to be ascertained if there were casualties at the time of this report

https://dailypost.ng/2022/05/24/petrol-station-saved-as-diesel-tanker-goes-up-in-flame-in-anambra/

SECURITY AND SAFETY TIPS

·Individuals are advised to remain vigilant, vary daily schedules and itineraries, and refrain from sharing personal information with unknown persons to limit the risk of being targeted by potential kidnappers.

·

·The Security situation in Nigeria remains complex. G4S Professional security advice and support should be sought for personal and corporate security and before traveling to these high-risk regions of Nigeria.

COVID-19

• From 19th to 20th May, 2022, 13 new confirmed cases were recorded in Nigeria.

• Till date,
• 255,896
• cases have been confirmed,
• 249,961
• cases have been discharged, and 3,143 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal
• Capital Territory.

• The 13 new cases are reported from 4 States- Lagos (6), Kano (3), Rivers (3), and FCT (1)