By Chinonso Alozie, Owerri

Soldiers and unidentified gunmen, Tuesday night, engaged in a gun battle that lasted for over two hours, at a military checkpoint in Aba, Ehime Mbano Council Area of Imo state.

An eyewitness disclosed this to newsmen in Owerri.

A viral video showed bloodstained vehicles, said to belong to the soldiers, on fire at the scene of the incident.

Another eyewitness, who didn’t introduce himself and filmed the gun battle, described it as an “October movement”.

He said: “We have sacked them. It used to be the Ehime Mbano Local Government headquarters and they turned it into an Army camp.

“We have sacked them. This is our land. They should leave it for us.”

At the time of filing this report, the number of casualties was not clear. It was not also clear whether the casualties were on the side of the soldiers or of the gunmen.

Meanwhile, tension has engulfed the communities as villagers were said to be on the run to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

Some were said to have left for Owerri to seek refuge, while others moved to neighbouring council areas to take cover.

The Imo State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Henry Okoye, was yet to respond to the enquiry.

Recall that on October 1, gunmen attacked and set ablaze the study centre of the National Open University, NOUN, in the same Ehime Mbano Council Area of Imo state.

They destroyed the buildings and office equipment, among others.

Vanguard News