Three days to the presidential/National Assembly elections in Imo State, unidentified gunmen burnt houses and shot sporadically at night, terrifying people. It was gathered that the incident started at the weekend in Okigwe Council of the state.
The latest happened in the early hours of yesterday, in Amagu, Ihube Community, in Okigwe Council, where a house, belonging to the state Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Emeka Okoronkwo, was set ablaze by gunmen.
The arson has been linked to the ‘no-election’ threat by gunmen, who have been on rampage in the six councils of Imo North Senatorial District, warning there will be no election in the South East.
Residents had raised the alarm that gunmen shot sporadically at night, causing fear in the people.
Also, there have been reports of killings and attacks on candidates of political parties in the area. The Labour Party (LP) candidates were said to have suffered more attacks, following the mysterious death of the LP candidate for Okigwe State Constituency, Chukwunonye Iruonu.
Recall that a convoy of a former governor of the state, Ikedi Ohakim, was attacked only recently, where three policemen were killed, and the bodies burnt.
Reacting to the development, the state Police Public Relations officer, Henry Okoye, linked the attacks to members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Police said: “On February 2, at about 05: 30 hrs, the proscribed IPOB and its armed affiliate, Eastern Security Network (ESN), attacked and burnt the house of the following at Ihube, Okigwe: Obinna Obiaraeri; the state Commissioner for Youth and Sport, Emeka Okoronkwo; former Director of Department of State Services (DSS), Emeka Ngwu, while one Grace Ngwu, who was in the house of the former DSS director, during the attack, was burnt beyond recognition.
“Preliminary investigation is ongoing, and intelligence-led patrol has been intensified to unravel identities of perpetrators of this dastardly act, and bring them to justice.”
