An unfortunate clash between the youths of Izombe in the Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State and soldiers from the 34 Artillery Brigade Nigerian Army in Obinze has left a good number of casualties.
The incident which is said to have occurred on Monday, 7th November has left residents of the community in shock.
According to the reports, the incident happened after soldiers were drafted to the oil-rich community to checkmate youth restiveness in the area, and the killing of the driver of one Dangote truck by the youth three days ago prompted increased patrol by the soldiers.
While there were intermittent shootings following the purported attack by the youths on the patrol team, a local who wished to remain anonymous corroborated the incident and called it an invasion.
He said the soldiers entered the community and shot sporadically.
However, the spokesperson of the 34 Artillery Brigade, Obinze, Captain Joseph Akubo, who confirmed the incident in an interview, denied that soldiers invaded the community.
He said the youths had attacked the soldiers who were on a normal patrol following increased criminal activities in the area.
Akubo said he could not ascertain the casualty figure as the youths were still engaging the soldiers in a fierce battle.
