Mystery deaths, assassinations and attacks by herders or unknown gunmen have been steadily increasing with the presidential election barely two weeks away.
Many of the killings have remained unsolved, even as reports on the killings, which have left no part of the country untouched, suggest Imo State is now the epicentre for the violence many see as political, ahead of the presidential election holding on February 25, 2024.
The latest victims are security aides of the vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and governor of Delta, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, who were killed by unknown gunmen in Anambra State on Friday.
The officers, Inspectors Lucky Aleh, Celestine Nwadiokwu and Jude Obuh were attached to the Explosives Ordinance Disposal EOD Unit in Government House Asaba.
The State commissioner for Information, Charles Aniagwu, disclosed that the officers met their untimely death while they were proceeding as an advanced team for the PDP national campaign rally in Abia.
Unfortunately, this particular team veered off from the convoy and took another route different from where the convoy was taking.
They were ambushed and killed around 1.30pm on Friday, February 10, 2023 by unknown gunmen along Ihiala-Orlu Road enroute Umuahia on official duty.
He said, “We bring you the sad news of our very gallant officers who have helped us in maintaining peace in our state attached to the Explosives Ordinance Disposal EOD in Government House, Asaba.
“They were ambushed along the Ihiala-Orlu Road en route Umuahia by non-state actors who eventually killed three of them in police uniform while the one on mufti escaped. We have recovered their corpse and we have also reached out to their families.”
While commiserating with the Delta police command and families of the deceased, he described the unfortunate killing of the officers as barbaric and unacceptable in a country seeking to be united again for peace and development.
He said the late officers would be greatly missed for their contributions to the peace and development of Delta.
He said some accounts of the unfortunate incident trending on social media were untrue, adding that the state government delayed announcing their untimely death because efforts were being made to reach out to their families before making the announcement.
He called on security agencies in the country to fish out the killers and bring them to book so that Nigerians can once again live peacefully in any part of the country.
“What is happening in parts of this country today, particularly in the South East, is not healthy for our development as a country because the elections are very very close.
“The security we are asking for are not just for the purpose of the elections. It is also something that everybody wants. We should be able to have security at every given time; that way, we would have development.
“We must also plead with our brothers and sisters who may have taken guns on the account of what they see as agitation to know that the best way to help our people is to allow peace to reign. That way development will take place in the South East.
“Our people in the South East are very very industrious, they are commerce oriented and have developed love for one another over the years.
“We will plead with these our brothers to allow this kind of love that permeated the atmosphere in the time past in the South East, to continue to pervade that environment.
“As a government in Delta, we will be with their families in this their trying moments and we will also take steps to seek justice on their behalf by impressing it upon security agencies to take steps to unravel those who have caused this pain that is in our heart today,” Aniagwu stated.
Mounting Deaths In Imo
Imo State witnessed also the most violent killings in the last one month. On January 10, 2023, a would-be couple, Ifechukwu Martin and Gloria Mba, whose wedding was billed for January 18, 2023, were killed at Arondizuogu in Ideato North local government area of the state.
The groom’s brother, who was driving them, was also killed in the incident, which caused panic in the area.
LEADERSHIP Sunday gathered that the groom had arrived Ideato for his wedding but while being conveyed in a tricycle to the house by his brother, gunmen attacked them at Ndiejezie Izuogu. The three occupants which included the groom, his brother and bride were killed instantly.
On January 18, violence knocked at Ikenga Ugochinyere Imo’s country home in Arondizuogu in Ideato North local government area. Gunmen attacked the country home of the spokesperson of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) and killed three persons, including his uncle, Ikeagwuonu and destroyed over 30 vehicles.
The most brutal was the beheading of Chris Ohizu, Sole Administrator of Ideato North local government area on January 23, by gunmen who posted the gruesome killing on his WhatsApp status. They had kidnapped him days earlier and collected a N6million ransom from his family.
The killing was chilling and condemned from all quarters. No doubt, that incident sent fear into everyone residing in Ideato North, a development that forced people to flee their community.
On January 25, a ward chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Okwe, Onuimo local government area, Christian Ihim, was gunned down in his country home by armed men.
Also that day, a female Police Sergeant, Mrs Chinyere Obilor, was gunned down by gunmen in a surprise attack at Ihitte junction along the Owerri-Aba expressway.
On Thursday, February 2, gunmen stormed the Ejemekwuru customary court in Oguta local government area, walked into the courtroom and dragged out the president, Nnaemeka Ugboma, and shot him dead. Sources said they jumped into their motorbike and sped away.
The home of the spokesperson of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) and the candidate of the PDP for Ideato federal constituency was again attacked, and three persons including his uncle, Ikeagwuonu, were gunned down by the rampaging gunmen, according to him.
Also, gunmen killed a staff of Ahiazu Mbaise local government area following an attack on people collecting their permanent voters card at Afor Oru.
Killings Rise To Over 15 In Akwa Ibom
No fewer than 15 persons have been killed, especially in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, in alleged cases linked to cultism and armed robbery, forcing angry youths to take the laws into their own hands in a mob action against societal injustices which the Police appear incapable of addressing, checks by our Correspondent revealed.
In the last one month in the state, especially in Uyo, cult-related crises have led to the death of six persons as supremacy battle between Vickings confraternity and the Mafians locked horns within the Ibom Plaza axis of the Uyo city centre, over circumstances linked to gambling at the Betnaija shop along Ikot Ekpene road.
The killings, it was gathered, took place around the Plaza axis, including Okokon Etuk, Ibom Plaza by former First Bank and Ikpa road roundabout near the University of Uyo town campus, following reprisal attacks by the Mafians.
Also, wanton killing of criminal suspects by angry youths on mob action have been rife, as residents blamed Police operatives of being in the habits of arresting and releasing suspected criminals without subjecting them to the due process of law.
“We have been living in fear around this Afaha community off this new Ring Road for years with marauding robbers, who always lay siege and rob market women, Point of Sale (PoS) operators and landlords, whose homes have been vandalized and invaded by hoodlums to dispossess people of cash and other personal belongings, yet the Police would only arrest and release them to come and terrorize us the more,” a local resident, Ofonmbuk Orok, told LEADERSHIP Sunday, as two robbers were roasted at the Afaha market on Friday.
“They (the criminals) were trying to rob a PoS attendant, but neighbours raised the alarm, which attracted the market people to apprehend two of them, while one escaped,” he explained.
It was learnt that one was lynched a couple of days ago at the Idongesit Nkanga secretariat, while trying to escape after overpowering a motorcyclist and fled with his motorcycle.
Others, it was learnt, met their end along Atiku Abubakar Way, Abak Road, Urua Ekpa, Goodluck Jonathan Boulevard, Itam market, Ikot Ekpene Road, and other locations on the metropolis.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Odiko Macdon, worried by wanton cases of extra-judicial killings of criminal suspects, has warned citizens against taking the laws into their hands, vowing to prosecute such cases to logical conclusion, “no matter how highly placed.”
Gunmen Kill 27 Persons, Raze Properties In Anambra
No less than 27 persons have been killed, while several public facilities were razed by rampaging hoodlums in different parts of Anambra State in the past one month.
One of the latest the incidences was the mindless killing of a lecturer of the Faculty of Education, Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, Dr. Anthony Eze.
He was gruesomely sent to his untimely grave in the morning of February 7 by a gang of gunmen.
The gunmen had shot him in his Toyota Corolla car as he was driving out from his residence at Ifite area of Awka with his children who he was about taking to their school.
Two days before the incident about ten persons, including a military personnel were killed in a renewed age-long communal crisis between the people of Omor and their Anaku neighbouring town in Ayamelum local government area.
Sources in the two communities told LEADERSHIP Sunday that a notorious native of Anaku, popularly known as Vulture, who on a revenge mission, had invaded Omor with some members of his gang in the early hours of Monday February 6 to avenge an alleged killing of his relation and in the process killed five persons in the town.
Those killed were three natives of the community and two non-natives. One woman was also said to have been killed in Anaku on that day.
The development, however, later escalated the following day resulting in the killing of another four persons in Anaku. Besides, one woman was said to have been kill in the town the previous day the crisis started.
A military personnel in the joint police/military team deployed to bring the crisis under control and restore peace and security in the area was later killed.
Operatives of the police/military peace keeping team were said to have invaded Anaku community demanding that the people should produce their missing colleague and one Nnamdi Maduneke who was declared wanted by the Anambra State police command in connection with the crisis.
Police public relations officer, PPRO, in the state, DSP Ikenga Tochukwu who confirmed the crisis that engulfed the communities stated that Nnamdi Maduneke wielded AK-47 rifles with members of his gang and launched “unprovoked attack on Omor community leading to the death of six persons.
Tochukwu said in a statement: “Anambra State Police Command is on the manhunt for Mr Nnamdi Maduneke and cohorts, wielding Ak47 rifles in the early hours of yesterday 6/2/2023.
“According to information received, the suspect and his cohorts without any provocation started indiscriminately in Omor Community, Anyamelum LGA and murdered six persons and inflicted serious injuries on two others.
“The joint task force team comprising Police and military was deployed in the area. The presence of these security forces has reinforced the security of life and properties and enhanced the provision of law and order in the area.
“Preliminary information reveals that the cause of the incident is a protracted existing communal dispute between the two communities, Omor and Anaku in Anyamelum LGA.
“Meanwhile, patrols/operations are still ongoing and the situation is being monitored.
“Further developments shall be communicated, please”, the PPRO statement read further while confirming the incident that took that took place on the first day.”
In addition to those killed in the two communities, several buildings were said to be on fire in Anaku on the second day of the crisis.
Gun-wielding hoodlums operating in Toyota Sienna vehicles were again said to have Killed two vigilante operatives in Abagana community in Njikoka local government area of the state on February 5.
The gunmen were also said to have set ablaze the Abagana police station located opposite the vigilante group’s office after killing the vigilante men.
According to the spokesman of the police in the state, the hoodlums made attempt to gain entry into the Abagana police station but after they were successfully resisted by the superior fire-power of the police team deployed to confront them, they threw explosives into the police station, and set the station ablaze before escaping. They were said to have carried out the attack at about 9pm.
Also, on February 1, gunmen attacked the Idemili-South local government office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at Ojoto with locally made Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs, and the police station in the area.
They killed a 16-year old male relation of one of the police personnel living within the premises of the police station and inflicted gun-shot injuries on a 15-year old female relation of another police personnel there, just as the hoodlums razed down the INEC office and parts of the police station.
The state governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, had visited the attacked INEC and police stations, vowing that the perpetrators would be fished out, arrested and charged to court to face the wrath of the law.
On February 1, Ihiala local government headquarters, was in a similar manner attacked with IEDs by hoodlums who killed three vigilante operatives and a military personnel in the process.
Spokesperson for the police in the state, DSP Tochukwu who confirmed the incident said \one of the dare-devil criminals was neutralised and the following dangerous items carried by the hoodlums were later recovered: two locally made IED launcher, seven undetonated IED, 40 pieces of live cartridges, 15 live 7.62mm AK-47 ammunition, knives, charms, among other. They were said to have beheaded one of the vigilante operatives.
Two days earlier, four persons, including a pregnant woman, were Murdered at Eziani community in the same Ihiala local government. Members of the evil gang were said to have invaded the community at about 1am shooting sporadically.
At the end of their rampage, four persons were counted to have been killed in the area by the gangsters.
LEADERSHIP Sunday also learnt that the people of Obosi community in Idemili-North local government and their Nodu Okpuno counterpart in Awka-South local government were among people of the state who were ushered into this new year in a traumatic manner.
On January 2, the president-general of Obosi town, Hon Ike Okolo, was killed by a gang of gun-wielding suspected cultists.
The following day, four persons were sent to their untimely grave in Nodu Okpuno in circumstances suspected to be a clash between rival cult groups.
Killings In Rivers Linked To Cultism
Majority of the killings in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, and other parts of the state have been linked to cultism and kidnapping.
In July 2022, the people of Udoda community in Ahoada-West local government area alleged that over 30 indigenes of the community were killed by thugs and suspected military personnel during invasion of the community.
In November 2022, three policemen were killed on top of the Rumuokoro Flyover along the East-West Road in Port Harcourt by suspected kidnappers, who opened fire on a convoy of Sports Utility Vehicles.
In December 2022, a group of suspected cultists, apparently in search of a missing AK-47 rifle, invaded Abarikpo community in Ahoada-East local government area and killed two persons.
It was gathered that members of an Iceland cult group had invaded the community at about 2:00 am in the morning in search of their unit leader James Bright aka Borokiri who was said to have converted the arms and ammunition of the group to personal weapons.
A source alleged that the unit leader of the group was said to have engaged the invading faction in a gun battle which resulted in the death of two of the cult members.
Also in December 2022, four suspected kidnappers identified as ‘Lover Boy’, ‘2flexy’ and two others said to be members of notorious Deygbam and Sailors cult groups in Rivers were killed in a gunfight with the Police in Port Harcourt.
A yet to be identified operative of Diobu Vigilante was also among those killed in an exchange of fire in Port Harcourt between the criminal gangs and the police from Sunday, December 4 to Monday December 5, 2022.
Vigilantes Killed ln Delta State
Four persons, including two vigilante operatives, were killed three weeks ago in Sapele and Ubeji/Egbokodo in Sapele and Warri South local government areas of Delta State within 24 hours
The vigilante operatives were killed at Amukpe Junction by suspected gunmen that have been creating insecurity in the town since December.
The killings created tension as fellow vigilante operatives blocked major roads protesting the murder of their colleagues.
At Ubeji and Egbokodo in Warri South, two youths were hacked down in what was suspected to rival cult war.
Chairman of Warri South local government area, Dr Michael Tidi, in a statement, directed security agents to fish out the masterminds of the killings in the council.
He expressed anger over the reported killing of two youths overnight in Warri charging the police and other relevant security agencies to fish out perpetrators of the heinous act.
Tidi directed the security agencies not “to spare anyone involved in the rival gang killings, which occurred at Egbokodo and neighbouring Ubeji, Warri, between last night and early this morning (Friday).”
The Warri South chief security officer advised community leaders, particularly in the areas where the bloody incidents occurred, to provide the necessary intelligence to security agencies in the resolve to immediately “end the madness”.
Similarly, Uyi Iluobe, a medical doctor was said to have been killed by aggrieved relatives of a patient who died from a gunshot wound at Olive Clinic, Oghara, Delta State.
According to nurses in the hospital, a lady came pretending to be sick and the doctor took her to his office. While the doctor was attending to the lady, she made a call to some people asking where they were.
“Then two guys came in a Camry and asked one of the nurses where the doctor was while bringing out a gun. The nurses took them to the doctor’s office, and it was at his office that he was shot and killed,” the nurses stated.
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) condemned the killing and called on security agencies to arrest the perpetrators within five days, after which the association will not be able to guarantee the rendering of normal medical services in the south-south zone.
It said a one-week total shutdown of hospitals in Delta state would commence.
“If the law enforcement agencies do not fish out the murderers of our colleague at the expiration of one week, the whole states in South-South zone of NMA will down tools,” the association said.
Bright Edafe, Delta State police spokesman, confirmed the killing of the doctor but said the crime was committed by suspected cultists and not a patient’s relatives.
“A doctor was actually killed but the story making rounds is not correct. What happened is suspected cultists went to the hospital disguised as patients who came for treatment.
“We suspect that the incident is connected to the cult crisis in Oghara. The reports that he was killed by the relatives of the patients are not true.
“The Delta state command has not received any complaint from anyone that they are suspecting relatives of a patient and there was no time that anyone was rushed to the hospital that day and died,” Edafe stated.
