ABUJA: Four people were killed while three others were kidnapped after the US convoy was attacked in Nigeria on Wednesday, reported CNN.
Two personnel from the US consulate and two police officers were killed, while three others were kidnapped, according to local police and US officials.
The attack took place in the southeastern Anambra state, with Anambra Police Command telling CNN that the attackers “murdered two police operatives and two staff of the US consulate and set their bodies and their vehicles ablaze,” reported CNN.
The personnel who were killed were not US citizens, according to the White House and the local police. “No US citizens were involved and therefore there were no US citizens hurt,” said John Kirby of the US National Security Council. “We are aware of some casualties, perhaps even some killed.”
When the assailants saw security forces “they made away with two police operatives and a driver of the second vehicle in the convoy,” Ikenga Tochukwu, deputy superintendent of police, said. “No US citizen was in the convoy,” he added.
Police said that joint security forces “have embarked on a rescue and recovery operation in the area.”
A State Department spokesperson said Tuesday that “Mission Nigeria personnel are working with Nigerian security services to investigate.”
“The security of our personnel is always paramount, and we take extensive precautions when organizing trips to the field,” they continued.
Separatists who operate in the region have escalated their attacks in recent years, usually targeting police or government buildings.
Nigerian officials often blame attacks in the south-east on the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra movement (IPOB) and its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network.
Separatism is a sensitive issue in Nigeria, where a declaration of an independent Biafra Republic by Igbo army officers in the south-east in 1967 triggered a three-year civil war that left more than 1 million people dead.
Violence in the south-east is just one of the many issues facing president-elect Bola Tinubu, who takes the helm of Africa’s most populous nation later this month.
The military is also battling a 14-year-old jihadist insurgency in the north-east, gangs who kidnap and kill in the north-west and central states and piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.
After a brief calm period during February and March elections for the presidency and governorships, attacks have been on the rise in the last few weeks. (ANI)