Gunmen have massacred eight security personnel from Air Force, Customs and Police in Rivers state.
The men were killed at checkpoints on Omagwa-Elele road, linking Port Harcourt, with Owerri in Imo State on Saturday night.
It was learnt from security sources that the three Customs officers were killed at a checkpoint at Isiokpo in the headquarters Isiokpo Local Government Area.
Their operational vehicles and rifles were stolen.
Three Air Force personnel and two policemen were also killed at the Joint Task Force checkpoint at Omagwa in Ikwerre LGA.
Some of them were butchered and beheaded.
Security sources said the gunmen burnt the police and other vehicles at the checkpoint and also destroyed the security camp.
It was gathered the gunmen attempted to burn down the Isiokpo Divisional Police Station but they were repelled by the officers on duty .
On Saturday, a joint security team attacked the headquarters of the militant wing of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), killing seven people, including the leader, Ikonso Commander.
Four security men, including an army second lieutenant also paid the ultimate price in the shootout.
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers has strongly condemned “the barbaric and dastardly” attack on security personnel along Omagwa/Isiokpo/Elele Owerri Road in Ikwerre Local Government Area of the state.
Wike made this known on Sunday in a statement by his Media Aide, Mr Kelvin Ebiri, in Port Harcourt.
He said: “ There is no justification for such a heinous and condemnable attack targeted against innocent security personnel on legitimate duty of protecting life and property in the state.
“The Government of Rivers State is saddened by the unwarranted callous attack on security personnel. We offer our sympathies to the relatives of those who lost their lives in the attack.
“We condemn this heinous act, share the grief of the security agencies and convey our sincere condolences.’’
The governor, who charged the security agencies to be vigilant, said that the government and people of Rivers “are in solidarity with security agencies at this difficult times of this unwarranted and mindless violence’’.
The governor also demanded that perpetrators of the attack must be fished out and brought to justice.
