George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
The All Progressives Congress ward chairman of Logara/Umuohiagu, Ngor Okpala council area of Imo State, Ifeanyi Ozoemema, has been shot dead. He was killed on Tuesday night by yet-unidentifed assailants.
Daily Sun learnt that Ozoemema was shot two hours after presiding over a meeting of his party in the ward, in preparation for the rescheduled presidential and National Assembly polls on Saturday, February 23.
It was equally gathered that the assailants shot the deceased several times in the presence of helpless members of his family and made sure he was dead before they fled.
Confirming the incident, the vice chairman of Logara Development Union, Chief Martin Opara, said that the community had been gripped by panic and mourning.
According to him, the community has never witnessed such a dastardly act, and he appealed to the security agencies to urgently fish out the killers.
He said: “This killing is strange to our community. Report said that he was shot several times in his house until he died. We have met with the Eze-in-Council and have sent a delegation to the DPO requesting that the killers should be arrested immediately.
“Logara community is known for peace and we won’t jeopardise it. The deceased just finished hosting a meeting of APC members in his ward, before gunmen operating in a jeep came and requested to see him. On sighting him, they shot him several times before they left.”
The Imo State commissioner of police, Dasuki Galadanchi, who confirmed the incident, said that the police had evacuated the body.
According to the police boss, the gunmen who killed the APC chieftain operated in an SUV: “Investigation is on and it is an unfortunate situation. The gunmen came in an SUV and shot him dead. The incident happened at a time when we were busy with the preparations for this weekend’s presidential and National Assembly elections.
“We have visited the crime scene and we have evacuated the corpse. We have done the preliminary investigations, including taking of photographs.”