Two ESN/IPOB men, soldier killed in gun duel
Two men suspected to be members of the Eastern Security Network (ESN)/ the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and a yet-to-be-identified soldier attached to the 14 Brigade, Ohafia, Abia State, were killed in a gun duel in the area, according to reports.
A military source who spoke to Vanguard Newspaper in confirming how the incident happened said one of the soldiers from their Brigade had gone on an errand to a nearby market called ‘Ebem Market’, to buy groceries when he discovered that he was being trailed by gunmen.
According to the source, the soldier overheard the gunmen asking a trader about the soldier that just dropped from a commercial motorcycle (okada), so he quickly hid somewhere and sent an SOS message to the Brigade.
The source revealed further that soldiers were mobilised for his rescue when the ESN gunmen engaged them.
He added: “Two of them (the gunmen) were killed. A pump action gun, cutlasses and two motorbikes belonging to the gunmen were recovered from them. It was while the soldiers were on patrol in the community, after rescuing the other soldier, that they discovered that the gunmen had already killed a soldier in the same community.”
The report concluded that calm returned to Ebem Community a few hours after the incident as residents had earlier fled for fear of being arrested by the soldiers.
