GUNMEN in the early hours of Sunday killed a man and a woman in their homes in two separate operations in Ifakala Autonomous Community in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State.
Chinedu Chibuka was killed late Saturday night in Umuchinenwe Umuagwuoche in Ifakala, while Mrs. Nnedimma Nwaiwu was shot dead early Sunday morning in Owerre-Ifakala village.
Chinedu, 32, before his death was a security personnel attached to a poultry farm in the area, while the murdered woman, Nnedimma, was a mother of four young children.
It was gathered that Nnedimma, 29, was killed in the presence of her little children, who it was gathered, had pleaded for the bandits to spare their mother’s life.
Village sources stated that the killers jumped over the fence and forced their way into the deceased’s residences.
The villagers told The Nation that the people of Ifakala were taken unawares by the attackers, adding that the killings could be related to a reprisal attack.
One villager, Okenwa, said, “We cannot particularly state the real cause of the attack but we suspect that it could be connected to the arrest of one criminal gang leader, Izuchukwu by the police”.
It was gathered that Izuchukwu’s gang had attacked the community some two years ago but was apprehended by the villagers, who quickly set three of the gang members ablaze with Izuchukwu escaping unhurt.
“But since this year, the gang returned and became a thorn in the flesh of the people of our village. The community rallied to inform the police about the return of Izuchukwu and his new gang. So, last two weeks, he was picked up by the police and since then, we started witnessing this attack that led to the killing of the young man and woman,” Okenwa said.
THE NATION
