At least 10 people lost their lives on Monday evening in Ogboji, a quiet community in Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra State, after gunmen launched a brutal assault on residents.
The incident, which occurred around 6:00 pm, saw armed attackers storm a gathering of residents, many of whom were said to be from Ebonyi State.
Witnesses said the victims were attending their monthly community meeting when the gunmen struck without warning.
“They demanded our minute’s book, seized it and subsequently opened fire on us,” one of the survivors recounted, speaking anonymously. He claimed that about 13 people were shot at the scene.
Although eyewitnesses suggested the casualties could be higher, police authorities confirmed that 10 deaths had been verified as of Tuesday evening.
In an official statement, Tochukwu Ikenga, spokesperson for the Anambra State Police Command, said the gunmen arrived in two SUVs and began attacking residents without provocation.
“The victims were rushed to the hospital and regrettably 10 people were confirmed dead,” Ikenga said.
“The bodies have been deposited in the morgue.”
He added that a joint security team led by the police had been deployed to track down the perpetrators.
Meanwhile, the Association of Non-Indigenes in Anambra State has condemned the attack in strong terms. The group’s president, Chigozie Nweke, urged state authorities to act swiftly.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Nweke appealed to Governor Charles Soludo to “do everything within his powers to fish out the attackers.”
The assault in Ogboji adds to a growing list of violent incidents in Anambra and across the South-East region, which has witnessed an alarming surge in targeted killings, kidnappings, and attacks on government facilities and security operatives.
Just last week, police confirmed the murder of one man and the abduction of another in two separate incidents in the state.
Three weeks earlier, Daniel Onyishi, Director of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Anambra, was abducted and held captive for 10 days before being released.
In May, gunmen killed four members of the same family—a man, his two wives, and a daughter—in Isseke, a community in Ihiala Local Government Area.
And in April, one person was killed in an attack on a vigilante office in Amesi, Aguata Local Government Area.
The federal government has long accused the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of orchestrating the ongoing violence in the region.
However, the group has consistently denied involvement, maintaining that it is not responsible for the attacks.
IPOB is a group advocating for the creation of an independent Biafran state, comprising parts of the South-East and South-South regions of Nigeria.
