ABUJA: A group of armed men launched a surprise attack in Nigeria’s southeastern Abia state and killed at least 11 people, the military said on Friday.
Among them, five were soldiers deployed as peacekeepers in the area and six civilians caught in the crossfire, Major-General Edward Buba, the defense spokesperson, said in a statement.
While no specific group claimed responsibility, the military pointed fingers at the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which wants the secession of the surrounding region from Nigeria.
The attack took place at a military checkpoint located at Obikabia junction in the Obingwa local government area on Thursday, stated Buba.
“The military will be fierce in its response. We will bring overwhelming military pressure on the group to ensure their total defeat,” he added.
This incident further exacerbates the already strained situation in the southeast, adding to the challenges faced by the government and military.
Nigeria contends with various security issues, including raids and kidnappings in the northwest, an enduring Islamist insurgency spanning 15 years in the northeast, and conflicts between herders and farmers in central regions.
IPOB campaigns for the secession of southeastern Nigeria, predominantly inhabited by the Igbo ethnic group.
The movement’s leader, Nnamdi Kanu, a British citizen, was apprehended in Kenya in 2021 and is currently undergoing trial in Nigeria on terrorism charges.
Over a million people died, mostly from starvation, during a three-year civil war in the late 1960s when the region attempted to secede under the name of the Republic of Biafra.
