Gunmen have killed two policemen at the Idemili-Obosi Interchange on the Onitsha-Owerri Road, Anambra State, during an attack on the police checkpoint on Saturday.

According to PUNCH, the attackers also burnt the police’s patrol vehicle before escaping.

This incident happened barely 72 hours after Usman Baba Alkali, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), vowed to take disciplinary action against senior officers in any of the police formations where an attack was successful.

The IGP said the force had become so volatile largely because of “poor alert level” and “supervisory dereliction”.

READ ALSO: ‘IPOB Members’ Disguised as Soldiers Attack Policemen in Abia, Kill One

From police internal documents, some of which were directly transmitted from the office of the Inspector-General of Police, and different media reports, FIJ reported the series of attacks on police formations from March to date.

Unlike most past attacks across the country, Ikenga Tochukwu, the police spokesman in Anambra State, noted the firearms belonging to the slain officers were not carted away. 

“What happened on Saturday around 5:20 pm along the Obosi Idemili flyover is an example of the price we pay as police officers in service to the nation and humanity,” he was quoted to have said.

“Three of the armed men were demobilised, while two police personnel paid the supreme price. The police also recovered the rifles of the slain officers. A Lexus SUV, one of the operational vehicles of the armed hoodlums, was also recovered. The operation is still ongoing. Further details shall be communicated.

“The Anambra State Police Command is firm and the personnel are more motivated in providing security services until the current security concern is reduced to the barest minimum and overcome.”

READ ALSO: Names of Casualties, Locations… Deadly Attacks on Police Formations in 2021

Meanwhile, a 2021 report by SB Morgen (SBM) Intelligence revealed that at least 322 police officers have been killed in the last one year. FIJ observed that most of the attacks on police formations happened in the southeast.

To stem violence in the region, the police launched the special “Operation Restore Peace”, a security action plan to ensure peace. During the launch in May, the IGP accused the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of being behind violence in the region, adding that the group’s activities had caused “unjustifiable inter-ethnic violence” in the five southeast states.