Five police officers were slain by gunmen at the Okpala Junction in Imo State’s Ngor Okpala Local Government Area on Friday morning.
Mr. and Mrs. Chinaka Nwagu, who were from the Amankwo Okpala community, were also killed.
Due to the occurrence, business operations at the intersection and throughout the entire neighbourhood have unexpectedly stopped, causing a situation of panic.
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The deceased officers travelled from the nearby Abo Mbaise police division to the intersection to eat, according to a source who went by the name Uche and claimed to be a relative of the couple.
He said that while the policemen were eating, some gunmen drove to the scene and opened fire on them.
He said that while three police were shot dead at the scene, two others ran to a nearby shot but their attackers raced to the shop and killed them and equally killed a couple who owned the shop they ran into.
The eyewitness disclosed that after killing the policemen, the gunmen carted away their five rifles.
The source said;
It is a black Friday in our community. Gunmen around 8am shot five policemen dead at Okpala junction. The policemen drove in a white coloured Hilux from Aboh Mbaise Police Division to eat at the junction.
As they were eating, gunmen drove to the place and opened fire on them. Two out of the five policemen ran to a nearby shop where a couple sold meat pie and sachet water. After killing the three policemen, they came two the shop where the two other officers were hiding, and killed them. They also killed a husband and wife that owned the shop.
They took away their rifles and drove off. This is so unfortunate. Our community is bleeding. Everybody is confused. The couple just relocated from Lagos about one year ago. We just deposited their bodies in a mortuary. The market is shut. People here ran away out of shock and fear. This is unbelievable.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the police in Imo state, Henry Okoye, said that he had yet to be briefed on murder incident.
