Tension has heightened in various parts of Enugu following sporadic shooting by hoodlums suspected to be enforcing the weekly sit- at-home order.
But the police command’s spokesman, Daniel Ndukwe, dismissed the alleged shooting, saying it was fake news.
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Ndukwe urged the people to go about their legitimate businesses, adding that those behind the fake news did it to cause panic.
He said police operatives visited all the areas where they claimed the shooting took place and discovered that the news was fake.
A factional leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) based in Finland, Simon Ikpa, had ordered residents of the South East region to observe one week sit- at-home.
Residents who came out for their businesses in the morning hurriedly closed their shops for fear of being attacked by the hoodlums.
Sources disclosed that the hoodlums shot sporadically around Trans Ekulu, adding that soldiers pursued them but they managed to escape.
It was observed that almost all the shops along the major roads were hurriedly closed after the news of the sporadic shooting spread.
It was further discovered that all the markets including Ogbete and Kenyatta markets were shut down.
A trader, Mr Obinna Ibekwe, said he decided to close his shop because he was afraid of the hoodlums.
He, however, called on the government to provide enough security personnel at strategic positions to tackle the hoodlums.
“How can somebody stay in Finland and order us to sit at home for one week. That Ikpa should be arrested because he is causing problems in the Southeast.
“The government should do something fast otherwise the hoodlums will wake up one day and force us to stay at home for two weeks or one month. They should apprehend those sponsoring this nonsense,” he stated.