Gunmen throw bomb into police facility in South-east

The hoodlums invaded the police facility on Wednesday night and threw explosive devices into the facility.

Gunmen have bombed the Police Divisional Headquarters, in Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra State, South-east Nigeria.

Residents of the community told reporters that the hoodlums invaded the police facility in the early hours of Thursday and threw explosive devices into the facility.

One of the residents, who asked not to be named, said the hoodlums wanted to free some inmates in the facility.

He could not, however, say if any inmate was eventually freed by the hoodlums during the attack.

When contacted on Thursday morning, the police spokesperson in Anambra State, Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the attack to Newsmen.

Mr Okoye, a superintendent of police, said the explosive devices thrown by the attackers affected part of the police facility.

"Our operatives gallantly resisted the attackers, which made them flee," he said.

The spokesperson said no life was lost and that the hoodlums neither carted away weapons nor abducted any police operative during the attack.

He said police operatives were currently carrying out operations in the area to track down the hoodlums.

Not the first time.

This is not the first time a police facility has been bombed by gunmen in the state and region.

Several police facilities have been attacked and razed by gunmen terrorising residents across the state and the region.

Apart from police facilities, offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission have been the target of similar attacks across the region which has witnessed deteriorating security in recent times.

Hundreds of persons, including security agencies, traditional rulers and government officials, have been killed or abducted in such attacks.

The Nigerian government has accused the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the region. However, the group has repeatedly denied any involvement.

IPOB is a group leading agitation for an independent state of Biafra which it wants carved out from the South-east and some parts of South-south Nigeria.