Hundreds of community leaders from Ngor Okpala Local Government Area of Imo State, have begged security agencies in the state to end killings in their area which they alleged to be politically sponsored.

*Members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, protesting the murder of a party member from Ngor Okpala Local Government Area at the Imo Police Command.
Photo by Chinonso Alozie

South-East Voice in Owerri captured the mood of the leaders of the affected community of Umuohiagu/Logara,   that since 2015, many lives have been claimed as narrated by the chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Tony Anamelechi.

The recent one which forced the community leaders to march to the Police headquarters in Owerri was the killing of Andrew Ugwuezomba, ward chairman of Umuohiagu/Logara. Andrew was murdered after a political meeting with his party leaders in the state.

Anamelechi recalled that it was same scenario that played out when a House of Assembly candidate was also murdered in 2015.

He said that at the moment, strange faces and cultists have been recruited into the community and camped in a hotel along Owerri/Aba road and Umuocham Ntu, adding that the purpose was to cause mayhem on and around the community before and during elections in the entire Ngor Okpala Local Government Area.

Not only that, he said a meeting was held by the sponsors of the ugly activities in the community where names of some notable personalities were pencilled down.

Narrating the pains of the people of the area to South-East Voice, they said: “We recall with sheer sense of regret that during the build-up to 2015 general elections, another promising and enterprising young man in Ngor Okpala, Onyeaghalanwanneya area, the late Andrew Ugwuezomba who himself was a House of Assembly candidate of Labour Party for Ngor Okpala State Constituency seat, was brutally and recklessly murdered in cold blood.

“We also recall that during the last 2015 general elections into the Imo State House of Assembly, in particular, Ngor Okpala recorded various degrees of high profile political assassinations in the same Onyeaghalanwanneya area where one Bennett Nnaji popularly known as coach, was murdered.

“A lecturer with University of Abuja was mistakenly murdered before they assassinated their real target, the late Andrew Ugwuezomba. This particular murder case we believe, is still ongoing.

“From our close association with Mr  Odoemena as a critical and influential political stakeholder in his immediate community of Umuohiagu/Logara, we have no doubt that such status may have exposed him to risk of some desperate political office seekers of the opposition party within his community, who may have felt terribly threatened by his towering influence as well as his position as the ward chairman of our party.”

He pointed out that, “As members of APC, we were aware that during the postponed presidential/National Assembly elections of Saturday February 16,2019, there was heavy presence of hired armed thugs for the purpose of election.

He told South-East Voice that all they needed was to end the killings in their area. “We are further worried that as at this very moment, there is still obvious movement of these strange faces in Ngor Okpala quartered in places like Umuaga Nguru, a particular hotel situated along Ihitte junction by Owerri-Aba road, and Umuocham Ntu.

“In a clandestine meeting held, some names have been pencilled down for possible harassment, intimidation and where necessary, elimination with the aid of fake police and uniformed bandits, who are allegedly linked with the dreaded Egbesu cult men from Niger- Delta area during the forthcoming elections, especially at ward and LGA collation centres.

“We hereby call on the Nigeria Police, all law enforcement agencies, the governor of Imo State, as well as traditional rulers in Ngor Okpala to rise to the occasion to unveil the perpetrators of this ugly trend so as to avert further bloodshed in Ngor Okpala.”