…Suffering chronic post-traumatic stress disorder, emotional trauma, fear, anxiety and insomnia
*Lose parents, only brother in gruesome murder inside family’s farmland in Nguru community
* Suspected gunmen murder man, abduct wife in Imo State
*“Nigerian born USA returnee shot in the head at close range by armed Fulani terrorists in Owerri. It is an intolerable crime”-HURIWA
*“Gunmen kill 30 during vicious attack in southeast Nigeria”-Rights group
*“The gunmen operating in three groups, blocked the highway at 04:00 GMT and shot sporadically. A full-scale search and cordon operation is currently underway, with security operatives combing nearby forests and surrounding areas where the suspects are believed to be hiding”- Imo police spokesperson, Henry Okoye
*“I want to say without mincing words that I’m worried about the state of insecurity in different parts of the country, and particularly in Imo State and in the situation where people come back to their country home and they are no longer secure”- Secretary of the Owerri West Local Government Area, Dr. Fidel Onyeneke
*BY TOLULOPE ARAMIDE/SPECIAL NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, Southeast, Nigeria & AMAECHI ILUJIO/CRIME EDITOR, Imo State
THE wave of terrorism, kidnapping, banditry particularly in the Southeast part of Nigeria is daily getting out of hand, since the insecurity is threatening the law and order and the national security of Africa’s most populous black nation in the world. Imo State, in the last 15 years has been a hot bed for militants and terrorists’ deadly activities which often defies the logic of the law enforcement agencies. An unforgettable black day for relatively once peaceful town of Nguru Aboh, Mbaise people of Imo State happened in January 2017 when Prisca Anyamele, a former Nurse of Duro Soleye Hospital, Lagos State encountered assassination by gunmen, narrowly escaped death, but her mother, father and only brother were casualties of kidnappers who did not survive the gruesome attack.
Eyewitnesses account of the incidence which the community still refers to till date on the dangers of insecurity in Imo State took place after Prisca visited the community on vacation, only to notice that some unknown gunmen had attacked her parents and only brother in their family’s farmland, stabbed them on multiple times, after which they bled to death.
According to Ichie Albert Ekwere, Nze na Ozo of Nguru Aboh Kingdom, a high chief, who witnessed the sad day explained how the late parents and brother of Prisca who were stabbed struggled to stay alive but eventually gave up the ghost.
“The parents, and blood brother of Prisca Anyamele were good people who would not hurt a fly. The fact that the family had earlier built several boreholes for the people of our community made the family so loved by the natives. I was shocked when I received a distress message by some members of our community that this beautiful family had been brutally stabbed by unknown gunmen. I rushed there, saw the parents, and brother of Prisca grasping for life, taken to a nearby hospital, only to be pronounced dead due to excessive blood already lost from the attack”, added Ichie Ekwere.
Further undercover security reports received by our correspondents confirmed that a few days after that black day Prisca had wanted to go shopping at a local market in the morning, a gray Honda Pilot vehicle with a defaced plate number had pulled up close to her, shot sporadically in the air dragged her into the car and zoomed off to unknown destination. There was a bedlam of noise, confusion and anxiety in the air.
Our sources in the police confirmed Prisca was only released after a week of abduction, “We received an intelligence report that Prisca was kidnapped, only released after the abductors had collected a ransom payment of 10 million Naira. They asked her if she wanted to live or die. In that scenario, she begged for her life to be spared since she just lost her parents and only brother had been killed by unknown people. But for last minute memory of the mobile of one of her friend’s rich parents, who paid her ransom, she may not have been alive today to tell her own story,” stated a law enforcement officer.
Discovery by Naija Standard Newspaper Inc USA revealed that emotional trauma and post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that Prisca have been suffering may have emanated from the torture she earlier suffered on September 13, 2016 at her working place then in Duro Soleye Hospital, Lagos at exactly 11:0pm after a victim with a gunshot was rushed to the health facility for life saving attention, while two other emergency nurses joined her and one medical doctor to resuscitate the patient.
At the end, Prisca was inflicted by one of thugs with varying degrees of leg and neck injuries, as that assailant tried to strangulate her which led to her neck-break and subsequent use of a neck collar then.
To show you how uncontrollable the present security situation in Imo State is, a Nigerian man based in the United States has been brutally murdered by suspected Fulani herdsmen in the same state, while his wife was abducted during the same attack.
The tragic incident occurred recently around 4:00 p.m. on Sunday along the Irete–Umuguma Road, near Golden Estate and Abba Father Avenue in Umuguma, Owerri West Local Government Area.
The victim, originally from Ihiala in Anambra State, had travelled to the area with his wife to finalise a land purchase.
They were accompanied by two local land agents in a Toyota Highlander SUV for a scheduled site inspection when the assailants struck.
According to a family source, the couple and their companions were ambushed by armed men believed to be herdsmen.
The deceased initially escaped but returned in a brave attempt to rescue his abducted wife. Unfortunately, he was overpowered and shot in the head at close range.
The attackers fled into a nearby forest with the woman, leaving the SUV and several injured victims behind. The land agents reportedly sustained injuries while trying to flee the scene.
Security operatives were alerted by witnesses and arrived shortly after to recover the man’s lifeless body.
The incident has triggered fear and tension across Umuguma and surrounding communities, including Irete, Nekede, Avu, Amakohia-Ubi, Okuku, and Ndegwu-all of which have seen a rise in attacks by suspected armed herders in recent months.
Reacting to the incident, Secretary of the Owerri West Local Government Area, Dr. Fidel Onyeneke, expressed deep sorrow over the killing and called for urgent security interventions.
“I want to say with mincing words that I’m worried about the state of insecurity in different parts of the country, and particularly in Imo State and in the situation where people come back to their country home and they are no longer secure. It is highly regrettable.
“I am aware of the incident in reference where somebody went to see land and in the process he and his wife were kidnapped, and it led to the death of the person who returned from abroad.
“Be that as it may, I want the federal government to mount pressure on the state governments to use various measures and methods, both kinetic and non-kinetic measures, to fight insecurity in our various rural areas.”
He called for the formation of forest guards who will work with conventional security agencies to fish out these common criminals who have occupied various bushes and forests.
The police spokesperson in Imo State, DSP Henry Okoye, who confirmed the incident, said that the command has launched an investigation into the ugly murder.
He disclosed that the Commissioner of Police had directed the deployment of tactical teams, with the Area Commander for Owerri Urban assigned to lead a manhunt through the dense forests of Owerri West.
“The Command is fully aware of this unfortunate incident and has commenced a vigorous operation to apprehend the culprits and ensure justice is served,” Okoye said.
*American Returnee Murder, Unacceptable-HURIWA:
Tasking the Imo State governor, Hope Uzodimma to provide effective leadership in Imo State and stamp out the incessant attacks and killings of Imo state citizens by armed Fulani terrorists masquerading as herders in Imo state, the prominent civil rights advocacy group: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has absolutely condemned and described as an intolerable crime the brutal killing of the Imo state citizen who had just returned from the United States of America and was on his way to inspect his landed assets in Umuguma Owerri Imo state.
HURIWA said the latest attack by armed Fulani terrorists, who parade about in Imo state as herdsmen on Sunday evening which resulted in the gruesome killing of a United States-based returnee and also the eventual abduction of his wife in Umuguma, Owerri West Local Council of Imo State, is one case amongst the multiplicity of reported attacks in Imo state by Fulani terrorists.
HURIWA lamented that armed herders have carried out over three dozens violent operations in Imo State even as no single arrest or prosecution has been transparently recorded.
“The Imo State governor seemed massively distracted by the politics of opportunism and securing procured endorsements for second term ambition of the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu so much so that the governor really spends little time in Imo state to pay attention to the issues of a lack of effective and efficient government- led response to the heightened state of insecurity in Imo state made problematic by the sudden invasion of several farmlands by armed Fulani terrorists in Imo State.
The constitutional duty of the state governor is to implement foolproof proactive security measures and activate security mechanisms to secure lives and property of the good people of Imo State. In the event that the Imo State governor prefers playing politics of 2027 second term ambition of President Tinubu, he can as well resign immediately so Imo state citizens can elect a capable, competent and caring governor, who would see to the adequate protection of lives and property of the good people of Imo state who are currently under intensive terrorists attacks masterminded by Fulani terrorists who pretend to be herdsmen.
HURIWA informs Governor Uzodinma that if he has no solution to the killings of Imo citizens by armed Fulani terrorists, then he has no business remaining as the governor of Imo state because his abysmal failures to provide efficient and effective security to protect the citizens is a negation of the very constitutional oath of office he took as the governor of Imo state.
Reading the uninspiring response of the Imo State Police Command manifests the shameless absence of any sort of professional commitment on the part of the police and the multiple layers of armed security forces in Imo state to work as partners to rid the State of the incessant attacks by Fulani terrorists who are emboldened by the inaction of government to escalate their targeted terrorism against soft targets in Imo state.
The security forces should end these killings or alternatively the government should licence the citizens to bear arms and sophisticated weapons like Ak-47 and AK-49 to safeguard their precious lives and hard-earned property, especially their landed assets now under grave threats of takeover by Fulani terrorists.
The gruesome killing of the deceased who is an indigene of Ihiala in Anambra State, who had travelled with his wife and some land agents to inspect a property near Golden Estate and Abba Father Avenue in Umuguma is absolutely reprehensible and despicable.
The scary news that the family of the USA returnee who were moving in his Toyota Highlander SUV, was ambushed by masked gunmen believed to be herdsmen, killed and his wife kidnapped right inside of Umuguma Owerri is such a painful episode and to even realise that this attack is one amongst the dozens of other violent attacks by terrorists of Fulani extraction in the heartland of Igboland and they go unchallenged is to put it mildly very humiliating to the people of South East of Nigeria, who are now treated like people whose landed assets are about to be taken away from them by some distant strangers. ON NO ACCOUNT SHOULD IMO STATE CITIZENS CHICKEN OUT AND ALLOW STRANGERS TAKE IVER THEIR LANDS.
The statement by Emmanuel Onwubuko, National Coordinator of the organization said that eyewitnesses reported that the assailants attacked the vehicle, prompting resistance from the returnee, who attempted to escape. The gunmen shot him in the head, killing him instantly, and abducted his wife. The land agents at the scene notified the police, who later retrieved the victim’s body and the vehicle.
As of press time, the woman’s whereabouts remained unknown. We in HURIWA hereby demand that the commissioner of police, Imo state Director of Department of State Services and the military commanders in Imo state must partner with Civilian Joint task force as is the case in other flashpoint of terrorism to stamp out these terrorists, who are determined to destroy Imo state and Southeast of Nigeria.
*30 Killed in Imo State:
At least 30 people were killed when gunmen attacked travellers in Nigeria’s southeastern Imo State, according to Amnesty International.
The human rights NGO reported on Friday that more than 20 commuter vehicles and trucks were set ablaze during a “vicious attack” along the Okigwe-Owerri road the day before.
The attackers are suspected of being members of the banned separatist group, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Amnesty said.
“The attack … shows callous disregard for the sanctity of life. The gunmen blocked Okigwe-Owerri highway and areas of Umuna in Onuimo LGA unleashed violence in an utter show of impunity,” Amnesty wrote on X.
“The Nigerian authorities must immediately and transparently investigate this attack and ensure that the actual perpetrators are brought to justice. International law requires the Nigerian government to promptly investigate unlawful killings to bring perpetrators to justice,” it added.
Imo police spokesperson, Henry Okoye, confirmed that the attack took place in the early hours of Thursday, but declined to comment on the death toll.
On Friday, Okoye told the Reuters news agency that one of the assailants had been killed by the police.
According to a police statement, the gunmen, operating in three groups, blocked the highway at 04:00 GMT and shot sporadically.
“A full-scale search and cordon operation is currently underway, with security operatives combing nearby forests and surrounding areas where the suspects are believed to be hiding,” the police said.
It was also reported that the police commissioner of Imo State, Aboki Danjuma, led a joint tactical team of security operatives to the scene.
According to Danjuma, the joint security team comprised personnel from Nigeria’s army, the police, and the State Security Service.
The IPOB, which the Nigerian government has classed as an outlawed organisation, has been campaigning for the secession of southeastern Nigeria, where the majority of people belong to the Igbo ethnic group.
Following the late 1960s civil war that engulfed the Biafra region, killing more than one million people, separatist groups have continued to push for an independent state from the southeast and in some parts of the south of Nigeria.
From the look of things, it is clear that the activities of terrorists have gone up beyond control and the values of human lives seem worthless in Imo State.
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