BLACK ASH WEDNESDAY: POLICE BEGIN MANHUNT OF KILLERS OF LP SENATORIAL CANDIDATE IN ENUGU
REPORTER: CHUKWUBUIKE MADU
Police Command in Enugu State has confirmed the death of Labour Party (LP) candidate for Nkanu East Senatorial district, Mr. Oyibo Chukwu on Ash Wednesday.
A statement by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Command, Mr. Daniel Ndukwe Ekea, said the LP Senatorial candidate was murdered alongside his Personal Assistant, (whose name was not given) in a series of separate attacks on LP, APC and PDP candidates either passing through or campaigning at Top Land and Eke- Otu axis on Wednesday.
According to the statement “… armed assailants, operating in a Hilux vehicle, attacked and set ablaze the campaign vehicle of the Labour Party, at Eke-Otu Amechi-Awkunanaw Enugu, burning to death the Party’s Senatorial Candidate for Enugu East Senatorial District, Barr. Oyibo Chukwu (male) and his Personal Assistant (male) with him in the vehicle.”
The statement goes to to say that some assailants also attacked the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship candidate in the State, Mr. Uche Nnaji, also at Eke Otu, Amechi-Awkunanaw.
“However, the miscreants were repelled by Security Operatives while attempting to also attack the convoy of the Governorship Candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) at Eke, Agbani, Nkanu West LGA.”
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) House of Representatives candidate for Enugu North and South Constituency, Mr. Offorchukwu Egbo, also faced a similar attack as gunmen killed one of the drivers of the buses in his convoy at Top Land, Amechi- Awkunanaw, Enugu South Local Government Area.
The driver was reportedly burnt alongside his bus in what many described as a horrific attacks.
The statement by the police pointed out that “preliminary investigations into the incidents show that the armed hoodlums, operating in a tricycle, attacked a PDP campaign Mini Bus at Topland by Ebony Paint Road, Amechi-Awkunanaw Enugu and used petrol bomb to set it ablaze, burning to death its driver, simply identified as one KC Great (male).”
The statement by the police noted that the command had begun investigation into the dastardly attacks and the Police Commissioner, Mr. Ahmed Ammani, had visited the scenes of the attacks, though he accused renegades of IPOB as responsible.
“The Commissioner of Police, Enugu State Command, CP Ahmed Ammani, fdc, has ordered the intensification of the discreet investigations and manhunt of the subversive criminal elements, suspected to be IPOB/ESN renegades, who in the night hours of 22/02/2023 at different locations, ambushed and simultaneously attacked and murdered People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) members, and also attempted to attack the convoy of the All Progressive Congress (APC) Governorship Candidate.
“The Commissioner stated this after visiting the scenes of the incidents the same night at Topland by Ebony Paint Road and Eke-Otu both in Amechi-Awkunanaw, Enugu.
“The Commissioner, while strongly condemning the barbaric acts, has commiserated with the Parties and family members of the deceased, vowing to ensure that the perpetrators are fished out and made to face the full wrath of the law,” the statement read.
The Police Commissioner, in the statement, assured residents of Enugu State of improved security during and after the election as the attacks had sent fears down the spines of some eligible voters in the state.
“He, therefore, reaffirms the undiluted commitment of the Police and other Security Agencies to emplace adequate security for a peaceful and credible elections in the State, while urging the citizens not to succumb to the cowardly antics of the hoodlums, which is aimed at creating fear and to disrupt the electoral process,” the statement assured.
