The gunmen targeted vigilante operatives who were providing security at the event, salemgists learnt.

The gunmen also moved to the Utuh hamlet in the same Local Government Area, where they attacked a vigilante operatives’ office, lighting it ablaze and kidnapping one individual, sources said.

The ugly development is confirmed in a statement by DSP Toochukwu Ikenga, spokesperson for the State Police Command.

According to Ikenga, the Commissioner of Police, CP Echeng Echeng, has ordered a manhunt for the armed individuals, adding that the operatives ordered to go against the gunmen include Police Mobile Force, Counter Terrorist unit, Special forces and others, whom he said are already in the area, and that normalcy had been restored, while operation was still going on.