The youth leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Obegu Ward, Ishielu local government area of Ebonyi State, Hon Celestine Egbuaba, has been murdered in what is believed to be a politically-motivated attack.
A source who spoke with LEADERSHIP Sunday on grounds of anonymity said over 10 gunmen suspected to have also hailed from the community had blocked the road, took hold of the youth leader and murdered him.
According to the source, the gunmen also attacked other passersby who were returning from their farms or places of business but unfortunately ran into the attackers.
The source, an aged woman who was returning from the farm but was quick to hide in a nearby bush, said despite several appeals from the youth leader, the gunmen shot him in the belly when he attempted to escape.
She noted that shortly after he was shot dead, the gunmen took the other victims and escaped into the bush.
“It was so pathetic. As I was returning from the farm, I heard voices and I had to hide in a nearby bush and watched closely what was happening.
“The attackers got hold of the youth leader and others and were interrogating him about the recent empowerment money he received from the state government. The youth leader pleaded with them to spare his life but all his pleas fell on deaf ears as one of them instructed the others to waste him.
“They shot at him when he tried to escape. They left him in the pool of his blood and escaped into the nearby bush,” she said.
The source also revealed that some members of the community who ran into them while the attack was going on were also attacked and many of them sustained various degrees of injuries while others escaped.
Confirming the incident, the council chairman of the local government area, Hon Obinna Onwe, debunked the report in some media publications that the attack was carried out by suspected herdsmen, adding that the killing may not be unconnected to politics.
Hon Onwe disclosed that after the killing of the youth leader, the gunmen also called the Obegu ward party chairman in the local government, Hon Ede Christian Michael, threatening to also deal with him.
“From the preliminary investigation and the statement of those who escaped, it won’t be wrong to say that it is politically motivated,” he said adding that on the same day, some persons suspected to be unknown gunmen in a Sienna bus and other vehicles plying the road manhandled passersby and other members of the Ebube Agu Security Network.”
He said among those abducted by the gunmen was another ward executive of the party, adding that soon, security personnel would arrest the perpetrators and unravel the cause of the attack.
Suspected herdsmen on March 29, 2021, invaded the community and killed 17 persons. Despite recovering the phone of one of the invaders, no one has been arrested till date in connection with the incident.
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