There was reported panic in several parts of Ebonyi State in the South Eastern region of Nigeria during the early hours of Monday as residents who had gone out for their daily activities scampered for safety over news that gunmen had invaded Abakaliki, the State capital.
Unconfirmed reports had put the casualty figure at four persons when suspected gunmen said to be enforcing a five-day sit-at-home ordered by a factional leader of the outlawed separatist agitation group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Simon Ekpa, allegedly struck at Ezzamgbo in Ohaukwu Local Government Area, some few kilometers away from the Abakaliki city centre.
A source had claimed of yet another attack in the early morning at a local market in Isieke, a community hosting one of the campuses of the Ebonyi State University, setting the market ablaze in order to scare away traders who they accused of disobeying the sit-at-home order.
Reports equally had it that another set of gunmen who rode on motorbikes invaded the Ahiaofuru market located on the outskirts of Abakaliki town, on the Abakaliki - Enugu highway where they disrupted businesses after attacking a provision shop and set some vehicles ablaze.
As the news spread in what a resident described as coordinated attacks by the suspected gunmen, residents of Abakaliki and visitors alike quickly rushed to shutdown businesses and civil servants closed offices, while motorists, tricycle and motorcycle operators withdrew from the roads, turning the city into a ghost town in just minutes.
Videos obtained online by africafirstnews.com showed people, presumably traders and buyers at the popular Rice Mill market in Abakaliki seen scampering for their safety, and another which location could be ascertained showed suspected gunmen boasting of their powers.
Both videos could not be independently verified by our reporter at the time of this report.
However, the Police in Ebonyi has dismissed the incidents and called various reports of attacks by suspected gunmen as mare false alarms, designed by mischief makers to stir fears and apprehension on the people.
