Amichi, a semi-urban town in Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State, was greeted with deafening sounds of gunshots in the early hours of Thursday, March 14, following the invasion of the Anambra Vigilante Group (AVG) office in the community by unidentified hoodlums.
According to videos from the scene of the incident currently trending on the social media, the hoodlums invaded the office in their oxblood-coloured Hilux vehicle at about 7:31am, while sounds of gunshots started oozing out from the area, which sent fear down the spine of the residents as they panickingly scampered for their safety.
Some of the videos also show thick smoke oozing out from the office few minutes after the hoodlums stormed there, while later videos of the scene show the attacked security office, a Sienna bus and some motorcycles there, all in flames.
A smoked corpse of an unidentified man purportedly roasted alive was also seen behind the completely-burnt Sienna bus in the office, while residents hurried around with buckets of water to quench the fire that was still raging on the Sienna bus.
Further later videos also show the residents scampering in fear as they beheld the scene from afar, while also sprinting intermittently at the passage of every vehicle, especially sienna buses, which they later identified as a team of AVG operatives chasing after the hoodlums, who were said to have escaped towards the Uga road.
Shortly after, the masculine voiceover that accompanies the videos announced the arrival of joint security force, comprising different security agencies (including the army, the police and AVG operatives) in their large number, at the area, while also thanking God for the quick arrival of the team, at least to guarantee the safety of the residents and also to go after the hoodlums.
Efforts by this reporter to get the reactions of the Police Public Relations Officer of the Anambra State Police Command, DSP Ikenga Tochukwu, on the incident, proved abortive as he did not pick his call or respond to messages sent to him.