By NewsBits
Parts of Owerri, Mbaitoli and environs in Imo State reportedly came under heavy attacks on Friday afternoon by gunmen who were enforcing sit-at-home order announced by one Finland-based Simon Ekpa, a self-acclaimed apostle of the detained IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
NewsBits learnt that the gunmen struck at different locations and killed a policeman, Prince Iheme, said to be an elder brother to Nollywood actor, Osita Iheme alias Pawpaw. The gunmen also macheted the state Commissioner for Solid Minerals, Martin Eke.
Report said the gunmen, who reportedly drove a Trundra operational vehicles, shot indiscriminately forcing people to scamper for safety. While businesses abruptly closed, the roads were deserted as motorists abandoned their vehicles and ran away.
At Orji, a community sharing boundary with Owerri, the state capital, the gunmen wearing black clothes in three vehicles attacked residents and passersby, including policemen. Eyewitnesses recalled that the gunmen met policemen at the 7Up junction at Orji and shot one cop dead.
He said: “They just killed a policeman now. They opened fire on them and were shouting, ‘There is sit-at-home. We have asked you to go home. Stay indoors.’”
Another eyewitness said: “I just escaped death now. They stopped before us and shot in the air and asked us to go home. They didn’t shoot at us maybe because I was in the midst of some elderly women.”
NewsBits further learnt that the fleeing gunmen shot repeatedly at Nkwo Orji market before taking off towards Okigwe Road.
Also, it was learnt that at Ubommiri in the Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State, the gunmen attacked the convoy of the All Progressives Congress candidate for Mbaitoli/ Ikeduru Federal Constituency, Akarachi Amadi.
While Prince Iheme was killed on the spot, the state commissioner for Solid Minerals, Martin Eke, was cut with a machete. An eyewitness who pleaded anonymity said: “This attack is politically motivated. We just finished at one campaign rally ground and were heading to Ubommiri. Our convoy was attacked at Amawuihe before Ubommiri.
“Prince Iheme was riding in the same vehicle with the commissioner for solid minerals. Prince Iheme who is Pawpaw’s elder brother was killed on the spot. The commissioner who was sworn in two weeks ago was cut badly. He has just been rushed to a hospital. They were driving in a Ford SUV. I pray he makes it.”
But the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Micheal Abattam, is yet to respond to an inquiry concerning the incidents.
