An All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman for Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo State, Sunny Ejiagwu, popularly known as Ohanaeze, was on Friday murdered.
The party believes it may be a political killing.
The state APC chairman, Daniel Nwafor, who briefed newsmen at the party’s state secretariat said gunmen suspected to be assassins murdered Ejiagwu in the early hours of Friday morning.
He said that from the information made available to him, the deceased chairman was double-crossed and that “when he tried to move back he fell into the gutter. His killers went there and shot him severely.”
Nwafor condemned the killing noting that his party, APC preaches peace and political tolerance, and that people should practice politics without bitterness and violence as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees freedom of association.
“We, therefore, call on the Inspector General of police to press on the commissioner of police to nab the culprits. Imo is a peaceful state and an example of how politics should be played.
“The deceased was in our meeting on Thursday and he expressed concern about political violence in his area. He told us that his area is volatile and called on us to come to his rescue when the need arises,” he said.
Meanwhile, the state commissioner of police, Dasuki Galandanchi, has confirmed the murder. According to him, the corpse of the deceased politician has been evacuated and deposited in a nearby mortuary.
The CP, who said that he was at the scene of the crime, said that Ejiagwu was murdered along the Akokwa road in the Ideato North LGA,
According to him there is currently no preliminary suspicion, he however said that the investigator would find out about that as the blood of the innocent would expose the culprits.”
Also reacting, the Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha who expressed shock and sadness, offered a N20 million reward for any information leading to the apprehension of the perpetrators of the crime.
According to him, the reward will be paid immediately, without delay.
