4 killed as US Embassy staff ambushed by UGM in Ananmbra

Gunmen on Tuesday targeted a convoy of U.S. Embassy staffers in southeast Nigeria, killing two of its local workers and two policemen, the police said.

The assailants opened fire on the convoy along a major road in Ogbaru local government area in Anambra State, one of the epicenters of separatist violence in the region, according to the police. “The hoodlums murdered two of the Police Mobile Force operatives and two staff of the Consulate, and set their bodies ablaze and their vehicles,” said Tochukwu Ikenga, a police spokesman in Anambra.

A joint team of security forces was deployed to the scene but arrived only after the assailants escaped with two other police officers and one of the drivers, Ikenga added. He said no U.S. citizen was on the trip.

US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby briefly addressed the incident at a White House press briefing on Tuesday, affirming “it does look like a US convoy vehicle was attacked”.

“What I can tell you is that no US citizens were involved, and therefore there were no US citizens hurt,” Kirby said. He indicated that the US was aware of the casualties, though.