By Anayo Okoli

UMUAHIA — The youth wing of Ohanaeze Ndigbo – Ohanaeze Youth Council,  has called on the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mr. Solomon Arase to ensure proper investigation into the murder of its late National Vice Chairman in Ebonyi State,  Mishack Chinedum Ukpa.

Late Upka

Ukpa was said to have been clubbed to death in his home town, Ndiakparata Igbeagu Izzi in Izzi Local Government Area of state on December 10, 2014, allegedly by some of his kinsmen over communal land dispute town. Ukpa, whose remains still lie in the morgue, left behind a wife with two months old twins. His death also came few months after the death of his father.

According to information from the community, the late Ukpa had stopped some natives who were said to be encroaching on the said communal land, an action which had angered some of the interested powerful land speculators in the area, adding the suspected killers were allegedly backed by a former Commissioner for Works in the state.

With the backing of the former commissioner and another prominent person said to be a senior staff of Ebony State University, the attackers were said to have used machete, sticks and other dangerous weapons on Ukpa, leading to his death. The Ohanaeze Youth leader was said to have been killed in the compound of one of the suspects who was arrested by the police but later released.

Though the matter was reported to the police, the detectives were said to have demanded  N50,000  to enable them carry out investigation and arrest of the suspects, the family was able to provide N30, 000 but regretted that the police were yet to pick all the suspects even as the three earlier arrested, one of them was said to have since been released.

The family lamented that despite coughing out N30,000  to some policemen for investigation and arrest of the suspects, nothing had happened since then. A family source alleged that the former commissioner and the Ebonyi State University staff allegedly used their influence to stop the arrest of more people as the family,  insisting that most of  the  suspects were roaming the streets of the village.

A younger brother of the late Ukpa, Peter, alleged that the family had been under threat by the suspected killers of their brother over their alleged refusal to withdraw the case from the police. According to him: ‘’Even the man in whose house Ukpa was attacked was not arrested by the police. Six persons that attacked and killed my late brother are walking freely in the village.

Ohanaeze Youth Council had, therefore, urged the IGP to take over the matter from the Ebonyi Police Command and supervise the investigation.”