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Gunmen suspected to be car snatchers, on Saturday, killed two persons while trying to snatch a vehicle at the Anara Market in the Isiala Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State.

Our correspondent gathered that the gunmen, who operated in a vehicle, stormed the market in the evening, stopped a motorist, who was driving in a Toyota Tacoma van, and ordered him to reverse the vehicle.

Suspecting that the gunmen were not genuine, the motorist, who is a businessman in the area, jumped out of the car and ran into the St John’s Catholic Church.

Angered by the development, the hoodlums opened fire in the direction that their target ran to and stray bullets hit two persons, who were on a motorcycle.

While the passenger died on Saturday night, the motorcyclist passed away on Sunday morning.

A community source said, “A stray bullet hit Mr Christian Uzoeshi from Umudo Anara. He just returned from Enugu and he was here to plan the burial of his sister. He was immediately rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

“The second person, who was the motorcyclist, was pronounced dead on Sunday morning. The gunmen, who were unable to start the vehicle, deflated all the tyres. They also rained bullets on another vehicle before zooming off.”

The Publicity Secretary of Anara Town Union, Emeka Obinwanne, said the community was looking up to the government to fortify security in the area.

Our correspondent reports that gunmen had in November killed four persons on the spot and injured others in the market.

The development had caused panic in the area as people no longer open for businesses at the market on Mondays.

The police spokesman in the state, Mike Abattam, had yet to react to the incident as of the time of filing this report.