Two staff of the United States Consulate in Nigeria have been murdered and their bodies set on fire by unknown gunmen in Ogbaru local government area of Anambra state.
The incident occurred today, May 16 at around 3:30pm Nigerian time, eyewitness reports.
The U.S. consulate staff were said to be in the area for humanitarian work before being attacked.
The state Police command spokesperson, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed this in a statement released.
The statement reads, “The Joint Security Forces have embarked on a rescue/recovery operation in Ogbaru LGA, following an attack on a convoy of staff of U S Consulate today 16/5/2023 by 3:30 pm along Atani, Osamale road.
Ikenga also revealed that two Police Mobile Force, PMF, operatives were killed.
“The hoodlums murdered two of the PMF operatives, and two staff of the Consulate, and set their bodies ablaze and their vehicles. Also, the arsonist/murderers on sighting the responding joint security forces abducted two Police operatives, the driver of the second vehicle and took to their heels. No U.S citizen was in the convoy
The Commander while reacting to the situation regrets that a convoy of such or any related will enter the state without recourse to the police in the area or any security agency, assured that the battle against the insurgents in the State is focused and it will remain sustained until such a time security stability is fully restored.”
The US mission Nigeria also confirmed the incident, saying its personnel were collaborating with Nigerian security operatives to get to the root of the matter.
“We confirm there was an incident on May 16 in Anambra state. U.S. Mission Nigeria personnel are working with Nigerian security services to investigate. The security of our personnel is always paramount, and we take extensive precautions when organizing trips to the field. We have no further comment at this time,” a U.S. Mission Nigeria spokesperson said in response to Daily Trust inquiry.
