Tension has taken over Abaja Community in Nwangele LGA of Imo State following the brutal killing of three men said to be members of the All Progressive Congress, APC in the State.
Apart from police invasion of the town for clues leading to the gruesome murder of Mr Placid Nzeobi Ejimmadu, Mr Livinus Iwumune and Mr Jonathan Ibemere, uneasy calm is pervading the area as residents live in fear of the unknown.
It was indeed a black Sunday for the people especially those of Umuokpo village when gun-totting persons suspected to be assassins stifled life out of the deceased persons, said to be brothers.
Giving an account of what transpired, the wife of one of the deceased persons, Mrs Callista Ejimmadu disclosed that her husband, Placid and a cousin, Iwumune also killed by their assailants were sitting at her shop around 7:30pm when they suddenly noticed a black jeep approach with the full beam of its headlamp focused on them and in a flash of light, an unidentified man alighted from the car shooting at her husband and his cousin.
The woman who said she missed death by whiskers because she fell on the ground with the victims stated that the trigger happy killer shot sporadically at the shop. According to her, no rescue came in until the suspected assassins left the place leaving her husband in the pool of his blood,
In her own account, late Ejimmadu’s daughter Peace disclosed that her father called her before his death telling her he was going to tell her something but she was surprised when a call from a restricted number at about 7pm on the fateful day told her that her father was dead. At that moment she called her sibling who told her their father wasn’t dead.
Speaking further, another victim’s wife Mrs. Bernedette Ibemere stated that she and her husband on hearing the gunshots ran into the bush behind their house until people beckoned on them to come out as the assassins had left adding that when her husband got to where his cousin’s body lay and found him shaking he quickly went back to get the key to his vehicle, but at the gate he was accosted by the same assailants who told him to kneel down before shooting him dead.
Mrs. Ibemere while stating that the deceased were APC members worked for the victory of party’s candidate in the just concluded general election, asked for proper investigation and support from the party.
Reacting to the matter, the Police Public Relations Officer PPRO, Imo State Command told Trumpeta they have received reports of the three men who were killed in Abaja, Nwangele LGA but noted that his office has not been informed if they were APC members or belong to any political group.
He however said the police is investigating the matter.
