Gunmen Thursday attacked a police checkpoint along the Abakaliki-Enugu highway, killing a police officer.
The gunmen also set a police patrol van ablaze.
The incident happened at Ishieke junction on the outskirts of Abakaliki town in Ebonyi state.
Residents of the area said the gunmen engaged the police in a shootout during which one policeman was killed.
The police spokesperson in Ebonyi, Joshua Ukandu, confirmed the attack.
“I just got information that there was an attack at that point but I don’t have any other information,” Ukandu, a deputy superintendent of police, said.
“One officer was fatally wounded and a patrol vehicle set ablaze. I will issue an official statement soon,” he said.
The attack came barely three weeks after four police officers and two civilians were killed in an attack on another checkpoint along a hilltop road in the city.
Although no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, the Nigerian government has in the past blamed such attacks in South-east Nigeria on the secessionist Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB). The group wants an independent nation for the Igbos in the South-east and parts of South-south Nigeria.
IPOB also operates an armed wing, Eastern Security Network (ESN), which authorities blame for most of the attacks on security personnel in the south-east.
IPOB, whose leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is being tried for treason, has denied responsibility for many of the attacks. (Premium Times)
