Fides Media Living the Faith
…Victims, Not Our Citizens, Says U.S.
Two staff members of the United States Embassy in Nigeria and two security men attached to them were, Tuesday, shot dead in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State.
Sources said the convoy of the embassy officials came under fire as they were passing through the area.
This comes as the American Government says the two staff members of its embassy are not their citizens and that the U.S. Govt would not intervene, report Jude Atupulazi and Ikeugonna Eleke.
A source said they were on a humanitarian mission to the area while another source said the attacked officials wanted to connect their destination through Ogbaru.
The source said: ‘At least four persons were killed in the attack, while others sustained injuries. Troops have taken over the community.’
Details of the attack were not available as of the time of filing this report, but DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, Police Public Relations Officer in Anambra, confirmed the incident, even though without details.
He said, ‘Following the information of the shooting incident within Ogbaru Community, the Commissioner of Police, CP Echeng Echeng, has deployed a police team led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations to arrest the situation.
‘Meanwhile, the details of the incident are still sketchy, I will get back to you as soon as I can, please.’
The US Mission IN Nigeria also confirmed the incident, saying its personnel were collaborating with THE Nigerian security operatives to get to the root of the matter.
‘We confirm there was an incident on May 16 in Anambra State. The U.S. Mission personnel in Nigeria are working with Nigerian security services to investigate. The security of our personnel is always paramount, and we take extensive precautions when organizing trips to the field. We have no further comment at this time,’ a US Mission Nigeria spokesperson said in response.
In the meantime, the White House has confirmed that no American citizen was killed when gunmen ambushed a US Embassy convoy in Nigeria on Tuesday, killing four people.
Those who died included two personnel from the US Consulate and two police officers.
‘No US citizens were involved and therefore there were no US citizens hurt.
‘We are aware of some casualties, perhaps even some killed,’ John Kirby of the US National Security Council, said.
The spokesperson for the Anambra Police Command, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, also disclosed that the assailants made away with two police operatives and a driver of the second vehicle in the convoy.
Ikenga confirmed that joint security forces had embarked on a rescue and recovery operation in the area.
The recent attack, Fides observes, is a new dimension to the activities of gunmen in Anambra State as they now seem to have graduated to targeting foreigners. Despite all the efforts of the Anambra State Government under Prof Chukwuma Soludo and the State Police Command, there seems to be no let in the activities of these hoodlums, a development that will surely be a source of great bother to residents of the once peaceful state.