Unknown gunmen engaged joint security operatives in a gun battle in the Ihiala Local Government Area on Tuesday afternoon.
The attack took place in the midst of Ihiala’s extra governorship election.
The gunmen were believed to be attempting to enter Ihiala through Imo State, as Mbosi and Orsumoghu, where the attack occurred, are border towns with Imo State villages.
According to BEST NEWS NETWORK, some reporters covering the supplemental governorship election in Ihiala rushed into a roadblock set up by combined security operatives at the Mbosi/Orsumoghu crossroads.
The joint security operators, which included mobile police officers, Army, Navy, and other security agencies, stopped journalists and requested them to return after a quick search, claiming that a gun war was ongoing.
Two unidentified policemen and a soldier who spoke to our reporter said, “You have to go back for your own good. For three hours now, we have been exchanging fire with your IPOB brothers.
“Our men are in the bush now, and it will be risky for you to take this route,” the security operatives advised journalists.
As of the time of reporting this story, BEST NEWS NETWORK had seen a group of security men loaded into 10 Hilux vans heading to the Mbosi/Orsumoghu crossroads as reinforcement.