Gunmen have again attacked mourners at a funeral in Ndingbu village, Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State, and abducted one person.

It was not clear who was being buried, but our correspondent gathered that the gunmen targeted the vigilantes, who were at the ceremony to provide security on Friday.

The reason for the abduction of the victim could not be immediately ascertained.

According to eyewitnesses, the gunmen also went to Utuh community in the same local government area, where they attacked an office used by the vigilantes, setting it ablaze and also abducting one of the vigilantes.

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The attack came less than 17 days after a similar one occurred in the Ebenebe community, where about 20 persons were killed by gunmen during the burial of a suspected cultist.

Gunmen, who are called ‘Umu Oma’ in the South-East, have recently been going from community to community targeting vigilante groups in a bid to disarm them.

As of the time of filing this report, details of the attacks were still sketchy, but the state police command’s spokesperson, DSP Toochukwu Ikenga, confirmed that both incidents took place.

Ikenga said the Commissioner of Police, Echeng Echeng, had ordered police personnel to be on the trail of the gunmen.

He said those ordered to go after the gunmen were the Police Mobile Force, Counter Terrorist Unit, Special Forces and others, who were already in the area, adding that normalcy had been restored, while operations were still ongoing.

He stated, “Although no notification was given to the police about the planned burial, information revealed that the vigilante groups were invited. Further details received showed that the miscreants arrived at the ceremony and started shooting indiscriminately in an attempt to disarm the vigilantes.

“In another development, hoodlums also attacked the Utuh vigilante office, abducted one of the employees and set the vigilante operational vehicle on fire.”