Amnesty International has confirmed that at least 30 people were killed and more than 20 vehicles set ablaze during a vicious attack by gunmen along the Okigwe-Owerri highway in southeastern Nigeria’s Imo State on Thursday, May 8, 2025.
According to the international human rights group, the assailants, suspected to be members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), ambushed travellers in the early hours, unleashing a wave of violence marked by “callous disregard for the sanctity of life.”
The attackers reportedly operated in three armed groups, blocking major parts of the road between Umunna in Onuimo LGA and Okigwe, and opened fire indiscriminately on commuters. Amnesty has called on the Nigerian government to urgently investigate the killings and bring the perpetrators to justice, citing international legal obligations.
While the Imo State Police Command confirmed the attack, they did not give an official death toll. However, spokesperson Henry Okoye noted that a full-scale cordon-and-search operation is ongoing, with combined security forces combing surrounding forests.
The Commissioner of Police, CP Aboki Danjuma, reportedly led a joint tactical response comprising operatives from the Police, Army, and Department of State Services (DSS) to the attack site.
The attack comes amid ongoing tensions in southeastern Nigeria, where IPOB has led a renewed separatist campaign seeking the creation of an independent Biafran state.
