Anambra State Governor Charles Soludo has condemned the killing of soldiers on a routine patrol at Umunze by gunmen in Orumba South Local Government Area of the state.
The incident happened on Wednesday at about 12:30 p.m. beside a branch of the Zenith Bank, close to the popular Nkwo Umunze market in the area.
The gunmen were said to have opened fire on the soldiers who were in their Sienna patrol vehicle, killing several of them in the attack.
An eyewitness told journalists that five soldiers and two civilians were killed in the incident. The civilians, the eyewitness continued, were hit by stray bullets.
A video clip of the slain soldiers has gone viral on social media.
In a statement by his chief press secretary, Christian Aburime, Prof Soludo vowed that the killers of the soldiers will be fished out.
“We condemn this wicked and cruel attack in the strongest terms. The perpetrators of this act must pay. We are not going to rest on our oars, including those people that attacked Senator Ifeanyi Ubah and the rest. There will be absolutely no hiding place for them,” Prof Soludo said.
“Going forward, our actions will show, as these people must surely pay for this heinous and repulsive attack,” he further stressed.
Soludo urged Anambra residents to remain calm and law-abiding as the security agencies look into the situation.
Anambra police spokesman Tochukwu Ikenga said the Command had deployed security operatives to secure the area.
