Gunmen suspected to be enforcing a five-day sit-at-home on Saturday in Enugu, attacked and burnt a police patrol vehicle in the New Market area of the state capital.
Although the details of the attack are still sketchy, a senior police officer confirmed the attack to newsmen, noting that no life was lost while a manhunt for the gunmen had been launched.
A short video clip of the incident obtained by newsmen showed a white patrol vehicle of the police on fire.
It was gathered that the gunmen who numbered over 10 had stormed the New Market area as early as 6 am probably to shut down the market but they were confronted by some policemen patrolling the market area to reassure traders of their safety.
They were reported to have engaged the policemen in a gun duel and eventually succeeded in setting ablaze the patrol vehicle while the policemen fled.
An eyewitness, Mike Ezeh, said: “I saw a group of boys around 6 am this morning shouting on traders coming to market to go home. They were shouting don’t you know there’s a sit-at-home? Why are you disobeying it?
“Shortly, I saw a police patrol vehicle coming and immediately, they engaged them in a shootout. I left my goods and ran to safety. After the shooting stopped, I came out and saw they had set ablaze the police patrol vehicle in front of the Colliery hospital,” Ezeh said.
Efforts to speak with the state police public relations officer, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, were unsuccessful as he could not answer his calls.
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