The Nigeria Police have blamed the United States Embassy’s failure to obtain a security pass before entering Anambra State for the killing of its officials by gunmen.
Spokesman for the Anambra Police Command, Tochukwu Ikenga, said this in a statement Tuesday night.
The gunmen had ambushed a diplomatic convoy, carrying US Embassy officials on a humanitarian mission to Anambra on Tuesday.
The gunmen killed four people, including two police officers, at the Amiyi-Eke Ochuche axis in the Ogbaru council area.
The bodies of the victims were set on fire by the attackers.
Reacting to the incident, Ikenga said; “The command, 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.”
The US government confirmed the attack and noted that it was investigating the incident.
“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,” a statement by the U.S. Department.
Anambra is notorious for its violent killings, which are frequently attributed to unknown gunmen. Security personnel have repeatedly blamed such attacks on the banned Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, and the Eastern Security Network, ESN.
Police in the statement further explained that; “The hoodlums murdered two of the Police Mobile Force operatives and two staff of the consulate and set their bodies ablaze alongside 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 vehicle attacked by the gunmen bore a UNICEF inscription.