Soldiers Enforcing Curfew Kill Unarmed Civilians In Southeast Community Ravaged By Terrorists

Some Nigerian soldiers have again killed a yet-to-be-ascertained number of people at Ogbaru community in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State, Southeast Nigeria.

Residents said the incident happened on Saturday, July 2, and Sunday, July 3, when the soldiers were enforcing the curfew imposed by Anambra State Government.

Chukwuma Soludo, Governor of Anambra State on May 25, declared a curfew in areas ravaged by terrorists under the banner of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

Ogbaru is one of the communities that a curfew was imposed due to its high crime rate perpetrated by terrorists.

Though it was not immediately clear how many people were killed in the Sunday incident. Local sources told HumAngle that no fewer than ten people were shot dead by the soldiers.

“While we are not against the soldiers fighting IPOB militants, we are pained that the soldiers are searching our houses and killing our youths,” an elder of the community who spoke under anonymity told our reporter.

“We have lost a lot of innocent persons, and our youths are scared of going about their businesses.” 

HumAngle also obtained videos of the attack as #OgbaruMassacre trended on Twitter. 

Both Tochukwu Ikenga, Anambra State Police Command Spokesperson and Onyema Nwachukwu, Nigerian Army Spokesperson, did not respond to calls and text messages sent to their phones concerning the incident.  

Also, Christian Aburime, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, did not respond to enquiries.

There have been various reports on how soldiers combating violence have opened fire on harmless and defenceless civilians, negating their role in protecting the lives and properties of citizens.