No fewer than three persons were reportedly killed by armed hoodlums at Nekede, Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State, at the weekend.

Confirming the story exclusively to Vanguard yesterday, Mr. Kelechi Obilonu, the elder brother of one of the deceased, Mr. Chidi Obilonu, recalled with grief that “the gory incident happened about 7.30pm, Thursday evening, at Umuoma Nekede autonomous community”.

Obilonu recounted: “The second victim of the attack, Mr. Cyracus Ekejiuba is a native of Isiekenesi, Ideato South Local Government Area of the state and a tenant in our place. The suspected assassins stormed the beer parlour where my late brother and some others were having their drinks.

“The hoodlums opened fire on the people and snatched phones. The shot silenced Ekejiuba who came to buy his need in the shop. As people struggled to leave the beer parlour, the hoodlums shot my brother in his hand but he tried to run away from the scene. The armed men gave him a hot chase.

“Three or four other members of the gang blocked my brother. He was shot a second time in his back but he kept running. He later fell at a spot and when the hoodlums saw where he was lying, they shot him a third time near his ear, as if to ensure that he did not live to tell the story. The hoodlums ran away thereafter.

“When I got to the scene, I quickly called some of the policemen from Nekede Division. I was privileged to have their numbers and they responded in good time. When they noticed that my brother was dead, they detailed one of them to follow me to the morgue where we deposited him.

“I was still at the mortuary when some of my relations called to tell me that the police had apprehended some of the hoodlums that carried out the condemnable act. At the police station, I was told that six of them had been arrested. Obilonu said the suspects have mentioned the name of an alleged high profile figure they claimed to be working for."

Obilonu said the suspects have mentioned the name of an alleged high profile figure they claimed to be working for.

“The person’s Personal Assistant, PA, has been picked up by the police. People know who the figure is and the police say they have gone to his house twice, as at the time of the interview, without getting him. I will resist the temptation of mentioning the man’s name now”, Obilonu said.

Monarch reacts

Reacting to the incident, the traditional ruler of Umuoma Nekede autonomous community, Eze Morrison Eke, has described weekend’s killing of some of his subjects by suspected political assassins as “despicable, senseless and gross disrespect for the sanctity of the human life”.

Eze Eke made his feelings known yesterday, in a telephone interview with Vanguard.

“Naturally, I feel very sad about the loss of precious human lives in my community. After the incident, I had to summon an emergency meeting of my people and I sounded a serious note of warning to each and every one of them to desist from anything that would bring them in direct confrontation with the laws of the land”, Eke said.

•Excerpted from a Vanguard report

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