Gunmen have killed seven Nigerian police officers in the southeast since the weekend, according to a spokesperson on Tuesday, in the latest violence to rock the volatile region ahead of Saturday’s elections.
Widespread insecurity is one of Nigerians’ top concerns as they vote for new federal lawmakers and a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Armed gangs and suspected separatist groups have killed dozens of people in the southeast this year, while electoral commission offices, police stations, and government buildings have also been attacked.
According to Anambra police spokesperson Ikenga Tochukwu, three officers were killed after gunmen opened fire on a police station in Idemili local government area using improvised explosive devices.
On Saturday and Sunday, gunmen attacked two police stations in Idemili and Oyi local government areas, killing four officers, according to Tochukwu.
He claimed that the attacks were carried out by members of the separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
IPOB, which Buhari’s government has designated as a terrorist organisation, has denied responsibility.
The Igbo homeland ethnic group is found in the southeast. In 1967, an attempt to secede as the Republic of Biafra sparked a three-year civil war that killed over one million people.
