The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret. ), has expressed grief and his condolences to the families of those slain in the attack on a convoy carrying the US embassy in Anambra State on Tuesday.
President Buhari is “saddened by the killing of US Embassy Staff, Policemen and others in Plateau and Benue States,” according to a statement sent by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina.
Two embassy employees and two police officers were killed Tuesday afternoon when a US convoy came under heavy fire close to the village of Atani in the Ogbaru Local Government Area.
According to the Anambra police spokesperson, Ikenga Tochukwu, the gunmen also abducted three people, including two additional police officers and a driver.
Ikenga noted that the area was known for separatist violence and said, “The hoodlums murdered two of the Police Mobile Force operatives and two staff members of the Consulate, and set their bodies and their vehicles ablaze.”
John Kirby, a spokesperson for the US National Security Council, confirmed the incident at a White House press conference on Tuesday but insisted that no US individuals were killed.
“It appears that a US convoy vehicle was attacked,” Kirby added. What I can say is that there were no Americans injured since they weren’t involved.
Following the event, the US Department of State released a statement stating that US diplomats were “working with Nigerian security services to investigate.”
The statement continued, “The security of our staff is always important, and we take significant care when organizing visits to the field.
The president of Nigeria responded to the tragedy by saying, “I was very saddened to learn of the killing of the embassy personnel and our policemen who were with them.
“In this difficult time for the families of those killed, the American Embassy, and the Nigeria Police Force, I extend the nation’s condolences over the very sad incident.”
The tragic deaths of several people in the Bwoi District of the Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State, as well as those of several villagers in the Adaka Village of the Makurdi Local Government and in the Ijaha Community of the Apa Local Government Area of Benue State, were also disclosed by Adesina.
Less than a month ago, an attack on the Umogidi community of Entekpa-Adoka in the Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue resulted in the deaths of over 46 individuals.
Buhari had then ordered military, police, and secret service commanders to increase monitoring on all fronts and quickly evaluate the security management in the impacted areas.
However, with less than two weeks left in his term, the President stated he is “deeply pained to learn about these gruesome deaths” and sent his sincere condolences to the families of the victims.
We are committed to finding the attack’s perpetrators and prosecuting them, and we share the sorrow of the American Embassy, the Nigerian Police Force, and our communities in Plateau and Benue.
Buhari prayed that God would give the families of the victims the fortitude to endure the tragic losses.