According to CNN, gunmen attacked a US convoy in Anambra State, south-east Nigeria, on Tuesday, killing four persons in the process.

Two US consulate employees and two police officers were killed, while three others were kidnapped in the attack.

The assailants “murdered two police operatives and two staff of the US consulate and set their bodies and vehicles ablaze,” according to the Anambra police command, as reported by CNN.

The White House has since confirmed that the personnel who were killed were not US citizens.

“No US citizens were involved and therefore there were no US citizens hurt,” CNN quoted John Kirby of the US National Security Council as saying. “We are aware of some casualties, perhaps even some killed.”

Meanwhile the Nigerian Police said that joint security forces “have embarked on a rescue and recovery operation in the area.”

A US State Department spokesperson said on Tuesday that “Mission Nigeria personnel are working with Nigerian security services to investigate.

The security of our personnel is always paramount, and we take extensive precautions when organising trips to the field.”

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack until now.

Anambra is one of the south-east states where gunmen suspected of belonging to the proscribed separatist group IPOB, have been wreaking havoc.

Hundreds of people have been killed and many others kidnapped by the suspected members of the group who are seeking to break away from Nigeria.

Integrity News reported that the leader of the group, Nnamdi Kanu, has been in the custody of Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Security (DSS) after he was re-arrested in Kenya and brought back to Nigeria in June 2021, about four years since he fled the country.

He is currently appealing the stay of execution ruling that prevents his release from the DSS custody.

The IPOB leader requested the Supreme Court to vacate the stay of execution decision, claiming that the Appeal Court judges violated the law by halting the implementation of their own order, which had granted him freedom