By NewsBits
Gunmen have killed the Labour Party (LP) candidate for Onuimo Local Government Area Constituency in Imo State, South-east zone of Nigeria. The victim, Christopher Elehu, was killed when the gunmen invaded his house on Friday.
The gunmen also set Mr Elehu’s house ablaze and destroyed his properties, including a motorcycle. The hoodlums, suspected to be assassins, also stormed the houses of other politicians in the area but did not see any of them, according to the report.
“They invaded his house when everybody had gone to sleep and shot for over two hours. His corpse was lying on the ground with machete cuts when villagers gathered in the morning,” an unnamed source was quoted as saying.
The latest attack and killing occurred barely 10 days after Chukwunonye Irouno, another LP candidate in Okigwe, a neighbouring local government area, slumped and died. Mr Irouno was to anchor LP’s presidential campaign rally in the state but died a night before the event.
When contacted, the police spokesperson in the state, Michael Abattam, confirmed the killing. Mr Abbattam, a chief superintendent of police, said the police had begun an investigation to track down the killers.
Some LP members have been targets of gunmen attacks in the South-east in recent times, mainly during the party’s political rallies in the region. But the killing of a candidate of the party is a novelty.
There are suspicions among the LP members that the attacks might have been sponsored by some members of opposition political parties in the South-east who are said to be disturbed by the growing popularity of the LP in the region.
