Gunmen kill Polytechnic deputy registrar in Imo

All is not well in Ezeala/Ezike autonomous community in Umuezeala, Ehime Mbano Local Council of Imo State following the gruesome murder of Innocent Obi, a deputy registrar at the Federal Polytechnic, Uwana, Ebonyi State.

Obi was allegedly killed by gunmen, operating under the guise of Biafra agitators. The deceased, popularly known by villagers as Onye Army, was said to have retired from the military before joining the services of the Polytechnic.

He was said to have also applied to be the next substantive registrar of the institution before his untimely death.

According to village sources, he had traveled to his Umuoboama village for the burial of a relative, who was killed in the Northeast as a soldier, when he was abducted and killed.

It was further gathered that no sooner had Obi retired to his family house in the village after the funeral, last weekend, than some hoodlums, numbering about six, invaded his house at about 10 p.m.

The assailants were said to have operated in military and police uniforms. “They broke through the main door and started using machetes and axes on him. “His cry for help attracted villagers to the scene, but the boys who were operating on three motorcycles, started shooting consistently into the air. “The shooting forced back everybody who had come out for his rescue, and they abducted Dee Onye Army from that Friday night, leaving heavy blood stains in the house.
“It was late Sunday afternoon that we got information about a decomposing corpse lying between Ehime Mbano and Ahiazu Mbaise.
“When our people visited the scene that Sunday, it was the dead body of our brother, Dee Onye Army that we met.
“They gruesomely butchered him beyond recognition. Dee Onye Army was a man who ensured that any youth who wanted to go to school got admission. So many youths were given admission in his school. He never lived like a rich man, always unassuming.

“In fact, it was now that he started building his own personal house in the village and that building is just within decking stage before his death,” one of the villagers said.

When contacted, the spokesperson for Imo State Police command, Henry Okoye, said he was yet to be briefed about the incident.

Meanwhile, Unidentified gunmen have kidnapped the wife and two children of a Kwara State lawmaker, Lawal Ayanshola Soliu, representing Ipaiye/Malete/Olooru of Moro Local Council.

The Guardian gathered that they were kidnapped early Monday when the gunmen invaded the house of the legislator at about 1:00 a.m.

According to eyewitnesses, the kidnappers were armed to the teeth with AK-47 rifles, shooting sporadically to scare likely rescuers and instill fear on their victims and neighbours. It was learnt that the assailants whisked away their victims unmolested.

At press time, a family source said the whereabouts of their relatives remained unknown.

“One of the kidnappers who contacted us, said he was not yet with his colleagues in the forest to harmonise their price,” he added.

Phone calls to the lawmaker, yesterday, were not answered. When contacted, spokesperson for Kwara State Police Command, Ajayi Okesanmi, confirmed the incident.