…Non-Indigenes Demand Justice
By Jude Atupulazi
The Anambra State Government has vowed to apprehend the perpetrators of the Ogboji massacre that claimed the lives of ten persons, Monday, June 30. The Commissioner for Information, Dr Law Mefor, speaking on behalf of the Anambra State Government, condemned the incident which occurred during a meeting of Ebonyi State indigenes in Ogboji, a community in Orumba South LGA of Anambra State, saying the culprits will not escape justice.
This comes as a group of non-indigenes resident in Anambra under the aegis of the Association of Non-Indigenes in Anambra State (ANIAS), is demanding for justice for the killed.
The attack which occurred between 6pm and 7pm in Ogboji, had thrown the community, families and friends of the slain, into grief, as well as the Ebonyi State people in diaspora.
The Anambra State Police Command, in confirming the incident, via SP Tochukwu Ikenga, image maker of the Command, gave the number of dead as ten. It said gunmen operating in two Sport Utility Vehicles, SUVs, had arrived during the meeting on Monday and opened fire on persons said to be members of the Ebonyi State Community living in the town.
But reacting to this in a press statement, the Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Dr Law Mefor, condemned the killing and vowed that the culprits would be apprehended.
The press release read: ‘The government expects the Police Command to conduct a thorough investigation, identify the perpetrators of this heinous crime, and bring them to justice.
‘The government assures the people of Ogboji and the entire state that we will do everything humanly possible to ensure justice is served.
‘The Anambra State Government is deeply saddened by this incident. The government strongly condemns this dastardly act in the strongest possible terms and extends its heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims.’
Responding to insinuations that the killing was ethnic because of the perceived involvement of many Ebonyi indigenes resident in Anambra in criminality, Mefor insisted that it was not a targeted attack, saying that preliminary investigation showed that the group itself had internal squabbles among them.
”We want to assure the good people of Anambra and beyond that this incident was not targeted at any particular state or ethnic group.
‘We urge all residents to remain calm and cooperate with security agencies to ensure the perpetrators are apprehended.
‘Preliminary Investigations however, suggest that the unfortunate incident may have stemmed from an internal squabble.
‘We will continue to work tirelessly to maintain peace and security in our great state,’ Mefor concluded.
Meanwhile, an umbrella body of non-indigenes in Anambra State, the Association of Non-Indigenes in Anambra State (ANIAS), has called for a thorough investigation into the massacre.
The President of the Association, Prince Chigozie Nweke, in a press release he signed, condemned the incident and urged the Anambra State Government to take swift action to ensure justice was served.
The release read, ‘We bring to the attention of the Anambra State Government, the killing of thirteen indigenes of Ebonyi State at Ogboji in Orumba South Local Government Area, by yet to be identified gunmen. While we commiserate with the bereaved families and the people of Ebonyi State, we respectfully call on His Excellency, Governor Charles Soludo, to deploy all state resources to investigate both the immediate and remote causes of this tragedy. Justice must prevail.’
Nweke further called on the government to assert its authority and utilize all security networks to identify and apprehend the perpetrators of what he termed a dastardly act.
‘If swift and decisive action is not taken, this could undermine the peace and stability that Governor Soludo’s Administration has worked so hard to achieve over the past three years,’ he added in the release.
Prince Nweke also appealed to the Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, CP, Ikioye Orutugu, to wade into the matter, expressing confidence in his leadership and crime-fighting efforts; even as he urged him to mobilize the Command’s personnel to hunt down the culprits.
‘We trust CP Orutugu’s capacity to combat criminality. We therefore, call on him to ensure that no stone is left unturned in bringing the perpetrators to justice,’ he said.
Nweke reiterated ANIAS’s commitment to maintaining peace and promoting security in Anambra State, noting that the association had been collaborating with the Presidents-General of all the 179 communities in the state.
Meanwhile, an eye witness who survived the attack, Mr. Augustine Odom, who is the Chairman of the Ebonyi Community in Ogboji, described the attack as sudden and unprovoked.
‘We were having our monthly meeting of the Ebonyi Community which holds on the last Monday of every month, beginning at 4pm. This gathering was known to our Town Union President. It was a peaceful meeting aimed at discussing welfare issues affecting our members. Then, around 6:30pm, a group of gunmen arrived in a Sienna vehicle and accused us of holding a meeting against them,’ he stated.
Odom said the attackers demanded the group’s minutes’ book and after seizing it, opened fire on the participants.
‘They collected our minutes’ book, ordered everyone to lie down, and then asked the Chairman to stand. Moments later, they started shooting us. Thirteen of our members were killed on the spot. The treasurer and I survived with gunshot wounds,’ he added.
He said those killed were from various communities in Ebonyi State, such as Izzi, Ikwo, Mgbo and other villages.
The two survivors who are currently receiving treatment at a medical facility in the area, expressed deep shock over the incident, stating that they had no known disputes with any individual or group prior to the attack. They maintained that they were law-abiding residents who simply gathered to support one another.
However, amid conflicting reports on the number of the dead, the Anambra State Police Command insists only ten people died. The Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, told Fides in a telephone call that the number of the dead was ten, just as he assured that no stone would be left unturned to apprehend the perpetrators.
The latest incident comes at a time insecurity seems to have returned to the state after the initial successes that trailed the formation of Anambra State Homeland Security, with an upsurge of kidnappings and assassinations across the state.
