condemned the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken Wed in attack statement on American convoy in Nigeria Which resulted in deaths, saying, “We condemn in the strongest terms this attack. We will continue to work closely with our counterparts in Nigerian law enforcement agencies to bring those responsible to justice.”“.
Confirming Nigerian police reports, he added that the attack, which took place in Anambra state, southeastern Nigeria, left four people dead“.
Blinken said the convoy was on its way to prepare to inspect a US-funded flood response project. “We do not yet know the motives of the attack, but we have no indications yet that it targeted” the embassy specifically, he added.
In addition, the US Secretary of State praised the efforts of the local staff and said, “We express our sincere condolences to the families of those killed in the attack and pledge to do everything we can to return those who are still missing, safely.”“.
For its part, the Nigerian National Police said Wednesday in a statement that seven people were killed in the attack, which took place on Tuesday at 15:30 (14:30 GMT) in Ogbaru district of Anambra state..
This, and the convoy consisted of two vehicles carrying nine people, all Nigerians, five of whom work for the US government and four policemen..
The Anambra state authorities condemned Wednesday the “outrageous and unjustified” attack on the convoy.
State authorities also regretted that the US team had not properly informed the local security services of its movements.
And it said in a statement, “It is clear from the information received from the various security services in the state, that the visiting team made its own security arrangements and fully circumvented the security structure of the state.”“.
This, and it is reported that Nigerian officials often point the finger of blame in attacks that occur in the southeast of the country to the “Movement of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra” and its military wing, the “Eastern Security Network”.“.
The issue of secession is a sensitive issue in Nigeria, where an attempt to secede the Biafra region in 1967, led by army officers, led to a civil war that lasted three years and resulted in more than a million deaths..
In addition, separatists are still active in the southeast of the country, where they have escalated the frequency of attacks in the past few years, targeting police or government buildings in particular.
France 24/AFP
