Panic As Unknown Gunmen Burn Nigerian Soldiers Alive In Ebonyi
Unknown gunmen burned a soldier alive in Ebonyi, causing panic.
An official told Peoples Gazette that a Nigerian soldier was killed on Wednesday after being thrown into a burning military vehicle in the country’s southeast.
The soldier’s identity has been withheld to allow military officials time to inform his loved ones. He was on patrol with his colleagues in Edema, Ebonyi, when they were ambushed by unidentified gunmen.
According to a military source, the perpetrators then set fire to the soldiers’ patrol truck and pulled the murdered officer into the blaze. On Thursday afternoon, the charred remains of his body and the vehicle were shared among service members.
Two additional soldiers who were part of the patrol remain unaccounted for as of Thursday afternoon, the source said under anonymity because the military was still evaluating the situation.
Nigerian troops have faced pushback from residents in Ebonyi and other states across the South-East after repeated attacks on the civilian population in the region. The military said the campaign was aimed at rooting out those responsible for violent attacks believed to have stemmed from the ongoing separatist agitation.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has repeatedly denied ties to the attacks, but federal authorities said its members were linked to the violence and arrested. The group’s leader Nnamdi Kanu was abducted by Nigerian authorities from Kenya in June 2021 and has remained in the custody of the Buhari regime in Abuja.
