Gunmen suspected to be operatives of the Eastern Security Network (ESN), the militant wing of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on Tuesday afternoon engaged joint security operatives in a gun battle in Ihiala Local Government Area.

The attack came in the heat of the supplementary governorship election holding in Ihiala.

It was gathered that the gunmen were seeking to enter Ihiala through Imo State, as Mbosi and Orsumoghu where the attack happened are border towns, with communities in Imo State.

Reporter who were covering the supplementary governorship election in Ihiala ran into a barricade set up by joint security operatives at Mbosi/Orsumoghu junction.

The joint security operatives comprising of mobile policemen, Army, Navy and other security agencies stopped journalists and after a brief search, asked the journalists to return, on the insistence that a gun battle was on, ahead.

Two unidentified policemen and a soldier who spoke to our reporter said, “You have to go back for your own good. For three hours now, we have been exchanging fire with your IPOB brothers.

“Our men are in the bush now, and it will be risky for you to take this route,” the security operatives advised journalists.