Gunmen have attacked five villages in Girei Local Government of Adamawa State, a report from the area said. The report by Channels TV, said that although there has been no official report of the number of casualties involved, residents of the area say that about 29 people might have been killed.
Security operatives have since been sent to the area, the report said.
It quoted eyewitness accounts as saying that about 300 people suspected to be herdsmen carried out the attack.Several houses and other property in the villages were also burnt in the attack.
The DPO, Okozie Okereofor, a Chief Superintendent of Police, who was deployed to the state about two months ago, was said to have been ambushed when he was leading police officers to the disputed area. He was killed in the eventual shootout with his assailants.
The corpse of the slain police officer and the others killed is currently deposited at the morgue of the Federal Medical Centre, Yola.The Police in Adamawa have confirmed the killing of Mr. Okereofor.
“The DPO and his team were attacked while on official duty in the affected villages where he was killed by suspected Fulani herdsmen,” the spokesperson of the Adamawa State Police Command, Othman Abubakar, said
A community leader in the area, Mr Phineas Elsha, told Channels Television during a phone interview that leaders of the community acting on information, had told security operatives that the attack was going to happen before the attackers struck. But nothing was done.
