George Onyejiuwa, Owerri and Agaju Madugba, Katsina
There is tension in Ifakala autonomous community in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State as gunmen killed a man and a woman at their respective homes.
The gunmen, who struck in the early hours of yesterday, killed Mrs Nnedimma Nwaiwu at her home in Owerre-Ifakala, while Chinedu Chibuka of Umuchinenwe was shot dead late Saturday night.
Daily Sun learnt that Chinedu, 32, before his death, was a security personnel attached to a poultry farm in the area, while Nnedimma was a mother of four.
It was gathered that Nnedimma, 29, was killed in the presence of her four little kids, who it was learnt, had pleaded with the gunmen to spare their mother’s life, but their entreaties were to no avail.
Sources in the village disclosed that the gunmen jumped over the fence and broke into the victims’ residences.
The villagers told Daily Sun that the people of Ifakala were taken unawares by the attackers, adding that the killings could be related to a reprisal.
One of the villagers, who identified himself as Okenwa, said: “We cannot state the real cause of the attack but we suspect that it could be connected to the arrest of one criminal gang leader, Izuchukwu, by the police.”
It was learnt that Izuchukwu’s gang attacked the community two years ago but was apprehended by the villagers, who lynched three of the gang members while Izuchukwu escaped.
“But this year, the gang returned with vengeance and became a thorn in the flesh of the people of our village.
“ The community rallied to inform the police about the return of Izuchukwu and his new gang. So, two weeks ago, he was picked up by the police and since then, we started witnessing these attacks that led to the killing of the young man and woman,” Okenwa added.
However, as at press time, the spokesperson of the Imo state Police command, Orlando Ikeokwu, did not pick his calls to confirm the incident.
Similarly, the Katsina State Police Command has confirmed the killing of two residents of Kofar Kudu in Kaita Local Government Area of Katsina.
A press statement yester by the police public relations officer in the state, Gambo Isah, said that three policemen who tried to rescue the deceased sustained various degrees of injuries.
“According to the statement, at about 03:10 hours on November 17, 2019, bandits in their numbers, armed with AK47 rifles, shooting sporadically, attacked the residence of Alhaji Sa’adu Dan Bagalo, 50, of Kofar Kudu, Kaita Local Government Area and abducted him.
“Police patrol team attached to Kaita Division responded to the scene and gave the hoodlums a hot chase into the bush.
“As the chase got closer and the hoodlums could no longer sustain the tempo, they killed the victim and Bawale Inusa, 58, of the same address and escaped through the bush path.
“One police officer and two others sustained various degrees of injuries during the fierce encounter. Detectives led by a DC CID are combing the scene and surrounding bushes with a view to unraveling the full identity of the perpetrators.”