Many were shot and wounded Wednesday morning, when unknown gunmen suspected to be enforcers of the five-day sit-at-home declared by Simon Ekpa, stormed Nwakpu market in Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
The rampaging hoodlums also set ablaze vehicles and motorcycles of people at the market for allegedly defying the purported sit-at-home order.
According to eye witness, the assailants were shooting indiscriminately at people as everybody ran at different directions in the ensuing pandemonium.
One of the victims simply identified as Henry, said his vehicle was among the ones burnt by the unknown gunmen.
He said that he was also shot in the leg and cut on the head with an axe by the assailants who left him in the pool of his blood.
Confirming the incident, the Sector Crime Officer in charge of the area, Kingsley Okorie told our Correspondent that when police got information about the attack at the market, they stormed the market, and on sighting the security agencies, the hoodlums fled.
“We gave them a hot pursuit but they escaped on motorcycle through narrow paths to the bush”, police said.
The officer said that one of the victims, Henry had been taken to the hospital where efforts were on to extract the bullets lodged in his thigh.
Both IPOB and its Leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu have since disowned Ekpa over the five-day sit-at-home order, saying it’s inflicting hardship on the people.
The pro-Biafra movement had vowed to confront enforcers of the purported order.
There have also been outrage from across the South East against the sit-at-home order which has been generally ignored by the people.
