Two soldiers and one civilian have allegedly lost their lives on Friday, 8th day of October, 2021 when oil smugglers in Umuokwe, Aboshi, Izombe in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State crash with alleged officers of Nigeria Army Force.
The incident Vanguard gathered started at about 12:30 pm, in Izombe which created tension in the area as well as neighbouring communities.
It was said that the clash claimed the life of one of the members of the communities whose name was given as obele.
It was reported by eye witnesses that the "palavar" started when some angry community boys said to be into oil theft had an encounter with the soldiers from where it purportedly led to burning of vehicles and houses.
An indigene who witnessed the incident but pleaded to remain anonymous, gathered that "the soldiers called their colleagues after the assault on them to attack the oil theft and it led to burning of vehicles and houses. For now, this is what has happened and everybody is in fear many of us have jumped out from our houses and hide somewhere to avoid the attack.”
The Imo state Police Public Relations Officer,Mike Abattam, confirmed the incident but said he was not with the details and assured that the Police will carry out an investigation to find out what happened.
