Again, gunmen kill 2 policemen at checkpoint in Abia

From Okey Sampson, Umuahia

Barely three weeks after gunmen killed five soldiers at Obikabia junction near Aba, Abia State, two policemen have been shot dead by gunmen at the popular Opobo junction, about a kilometre from the scene of the former incident.
It was gathered that the incident happened late on Friday evening.
The police officers were said to be at the junction for their usual stop and search operation, which normally goes on into late in the evening.
Report had it that the gunmen numbering about six, who came in a Sienna bus swooped on the five policemen on duty, killing two of them instantly before they fled unchallenged.
The incident sent pandemonium in the area as people scampered for safety. Shop owners along the adjoining roads, as well as traders at the nearby Ehere market were reported to have been forced to close their shops, while others abandoned their wares and fled for dear life.
A source from the area told Sunday Sun on phone that immediately the gunmen fled, policemen from the Azuka Police Division, Ogbor Hill from where the slain policemen came to duty from, arrived at the scene, shooting sporadically in the air, forcing another wave of panic for people in the area.
“The gunshots which came minutes after the attack and killing of the policemen sent people and residents into another wave of panic mood, forcing both commercial and private vehicles and Keke drivers and their passengers to abandon their cars to run for safety.
“There are fears of possible mass and indiscriminate arrests of residents of the area and passersby by police operatives following the incident,” the source said.
A resident of the area who spoke on phone and gave his name as Franklin said that he had to use alternative route to get to his house as policemen from the Aba Area Command and other security agencies cordoned off the Aba-Ikot Ekpene Expressway, Opobo and Where Roads leading to Opobo junction.
The police were yet to make any statement over the incident, but the slain police officers have been evacuated from the scene at the time of filing this report.