Former Commissioner for Culture and Tourism in the Rochas Okorocha administration, Engr. Alex Ogwazuo, has been kidnapped by unknown gunmen in Owerri.
Although details of the weekend kidnap operation was very sketchy at press time. It was however gathered yesterday that the youthful ex-commissioner was taken away in his Sports Utility Vehicle, SUV, to an unknown destination.
An unconfirmed story that was weaved around the kidnap had that Ogwazuo was allegedly attacked by the hoodlums soon after leaving a social function in the evening. It will be recalled that Engr. Ogwazuo also served as Board Chairman of the Imo State Oil Producing Area Development Commission, ISOPADEC, before it was sacked by Governor Rochas Okorocha. Meanwhile, a weekend tragedy hit Umuagwu village, Ohii, Owerri West local government area of Imo State, following the alleged shooting of a young man by his landlord (names withheld).
Confirming the story making the rounds in Umuagwu, a villager who spoke on strict grounds of anonymity, said that “the deceased was returning home from a viewing centre, where he had gone to watch an English Premier League football match”. According to the villager, “the young man was accosted by his landlord and although he thought that what was brewing was a huge joke, but he is no longer alive to tell the story.”
Continuing, the villager recalled that when all efforts made to revive him failed, his lifeless body was deposited in a morgue. Strong feelers from Umuagwu community had it that “angry youths have destroyed the man’s house, while his wife and children have fled into safety”.
Efforts to get the police angle to the stories failed as the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Chris Ezike, did not respond to the text message sent to him on the issues.
