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18-05-2023
ABUJA: A convoy of United States embassy staff has come under fire in southeast Nigeria, an attack that killed two employees and two police officers.
Gunmen also kidnapped three individuals two other police officers and a driver during the attack on Tuesday near the town of Atani in Nigeria’s Anambra State.
A rescue and recovery effort remains under way, according to a police spokesperson in Anambra, Ikenga Tochukwu.
“The hoodlums murdered two of the Police Mobile Force operatives and two staff of the Consulate, and set their bodies ablaze and their vehicles,” Ikenga said, noting the area was known for separatist violence.
It is not immediately clear the nature of the trip by the US embassy staffers in Anambra, nor how many people were in the convoy.
He also expressed regret the convoy chose to “enter the state without recourse to the police in the area or any security agency”. Law enforcement, he said, arrived only after the attackers escaped.
US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby briefly addressed the incident at a White House press briefing on Tuesday, affirming “it does look like a US convoy vehicle was attacked”.
“What I can tell you is that no US citizens were involved and, therefore, there were no US citizens hurt,” Kirby said.
The US Department of State later issued a statement saying its diplomatic staff were “working with Nigerian security services to investigate”.
“The security of our personnel is always paramount, and we take extensive precautions when organizing trips to the field,” it said.
The attack took place along a major roadway at about 3:30pm local time (14:30 GMT). Police in Anambra have indicated they believe separatists are responsible for the attack as part of an escalating campaign of violence.
Officials in the region often point to a separatist group called the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which has led a push to secede from Nigeria in favor of establishing its own republic.
In 2020, it formed a paramilitary organization called the Eastern Security Network, ostensibly to protect local farmers and residents from crime but Nigerian police have accused it of carrying out violent attacks. (Int’l News Desk)
