Nigerian Government Offers Reward Following Deadly Attack in Abia State

ABUJA — Armed men killed at least six civilians and five soldiers in an attack in Nigeria's southeastern Abia state, the military said Friday. In response, the state government has offered a reward of $16,850 for information leading to the capture of the gunmen.

The attack on Thursday is the latest in a series of violent incidents in a region plagued by separatist unrest. The assailants targeted a military checkpoint at Obikabia junction in Obingwa local government area. According to defense spokesperson Major-General Edward Buba, the soldiers were deployed as peacekeepers, and the civilians were caught in the crossfire.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the army has blamed the outlawed separatist Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) movement, which seeks the secession of southeastern Nigeria. “The military will be fierce in its response. We will bring overwhelming military pressure on the group to ensure their total defeat,” Buba stated in a press release.

Abia Information Commissioner Prince Okey Kanu urged the military to exercise restraint in their response. The military has previously faced accusations from rights groups of using excessive force and targeting innocent civilians during similar operations, allegations it has consistently denied.

The unrest in the southeast adds to the challenges faced by Nigeria's government and military, which are also dealing with attacks and kidnappings in the northwest, a 15-year-old Islamist insurgency in the northeast, and sectarian and herder-farmer clashes in central regions.

IPOB campaigns for the secession of southeastern Nigeria, where the majority belong to the Igbo ethnic group. The movement's leader, Nnamdi Kanu, a British citizen, was arrested in Kenya in 2021 and is currently on trial in Nigeria on terrorism charges.

The region's push for independence has historical roots. More than a million people died, mostly from starvation, during a three-year civil war in the late 1960s when the region attempted to secede under the name of the Republic of Biafra.