Overview

• At least 30 travellers were killed and over 20 vehicles, including trucks and motorcycles, were set on fire in a highway ambush on May 8 in Imo State, southeastern Nigeria.
• The attackers, operating in three groups, sporadically fired at travellers and created chaos along the Okigwe-Owerri Road between Umuna and Amuro communities.
• One assailant was killed during a confrontation with police, who have launched a full-scale search and cordon operation to track down the remaining suspects hiding in nearby forests.
• Authorities suspect the attackers are linked to the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), though the group denies involvement in the region's escalating violence.
• Amnesty International has called for a transparent investigation into the attack, as southeastern Nigeria faces worsening insecurity and frequent armed assaults.