Uzodinma’s Ebube Agu: True details of Awo-Omamma mass killing …As families, MASSOB demand justice for slain Imo youths …As Uzodimma seeks cover

Uzodinma’s Ebube Agu: True details
of Awo-Omamma mass killing
…As families, MASSOB demand justice for slain Imo youths
…As Uzodimma seeks cover

The family of two brothers, Ifechi and Chukwuemeka who were killed alongside 12 others on Sunday on their way back from a traditional wedding at Awo Omamma in Oru East Local Government Area of Imo State, has called on the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba and the state governor, Hope Uzodimma, to ensure justice.

Chidozie Ekesinachi, elder brother of both Ifechi and Chukwuemeka who were killed, had earlier revealed that his two siblings and others were allegedly killed by members of the state government-owned Ebubeagu Operatives.

Chidozie Ekesinachi, one of the angry youths who blocked the Owerri/Onitsha road to protest the killings of their brothers in Imo community has narrated his ordeal at the hand of the suspected Ebubeagu security operatives and how he said he lost his two brothers.

Famousreporters.com reports that many youths who were returning from a traditional wedding from Awo-Omamma in Oru East Local government area to Otulu in Oru West Local government area of the state, were killed by the local security outfit, Ebubeagu.

Narrating what happened on that Black Sunday, Ekesinachi said he was among those arrested by the said Ebubeagu operatives on Sunday and they took them to their office at Oru East council area, where they detained them till the next day.

Ekesinachi told Vanguard that on the same day, some people called his attention that his brothers were among those killed. He rushed there and confirmed it was true.

He said, “Ifechi, who was 18 years, and Chukwuemeka, 20 years, were shot dead by members of Ebubeagu last Sunday at a traditional wedding of one their kinsmen held at Awo- Omama in Oru East council area of Imo State.

“I was supposed to be at the wedding but I couldn’t meet up because I went on an assignment with my boss. It was later in the evening of Sunday when one of our kinsmen rushed to our house to inform me that all those who were at the traditional wedding of Chijioke Nnanna have been killed.

“I had to go with him to find out if my brothers were safe, and while we were on our way, it was around Afor Awo market that I saw my brother, Ifechi’s corpse on the road and I broke down in tears.

“As I still held his corpse, crying, Ebubeagu operatives appeared. They came in an open truck, a Sienna car and a white Hilux  and they bundled me into their truck and took me and others who were also searching for their brothers to their office at Oru East Local Government headquarters in Omuma.

“They tied my hands backward with my belt and started beating me that I have come to carry the body of my one of my members but I told them that he was my junior brothers. After beating me to their satisfaction, they locked me up in the cell.

“It was later in the evening of Monday that they released me because our people have already started to protest over the killings. I didn’t know that Chukwuemeka was also dead until the youth who were carrying the corpses littered on the road brought him in a wheel barrow.

“We want justice in this matter because you cannot just kill my brothers like that. Ifechi has just completed his apprenticeship as a re-winder while Chukwuemeka was an Aluminum fabricator.”

Disband Ebubeagu –MASSOB

The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra has called for the disbandment of Ebubeagu Security Outfit in Imo State over the killing.

MASSOB stated this in a statement issued by its leader, Uchenna Madu, on Tuesday.

The statement read in part, “They are primarily established as a witch-hunting outfit to fight political enemies and pro-Biafra agitators who are non-violent.

“MASSOB described ESO as evil and an agent of death established by the Imo State Government.

“MASSOB warns Governor Uzodimma to immediately disband his ESO now or we shall see their activities in Biafra land as a declaration of internal war. The so-called ESO must cease their operation in Imo State now.”

Uzodimma faults MASSOB

Contrary to the position of MASSOB, Uzodimma on Tuesday said the Department of State Services was responsible for the operation that led to the killings.

The governor said the operation, according to the information available to him, was targeted at bandits and not wedding guests as being alleged.

A statement issued by the governor’s spokesperson, Oguwike Nwachuku, read in part, “Governor Uzodimma said the state government would not be deterred by propaganda and blackmail in her quest to protect the lives and property of Imo citizens.

“He spoke on Monday after the Imo State Security Council meeting with regard the alleged incident that took place at Awo Omamma, on Monday that led to the death of some bandits.

“Governor Uzodimma said the government had been briefed on the incident by the Director of State Services in an interim report made available to members of the Security Council.

“The Governor added that the DSS Director confirmed that his men carried out an operation in a camp at Awo Omamma protewith the assistance of their informant and not at a wedding place as claimed by the youths, and that it was in the process that some bandits were neutralised.

“He said while the Security Council awaits a detailed report on the incident, it is important that the public must be wary of those using the incident as a propaganda tool to blackmail the security agencies and the government.”

Meanwhile, famousreporters.com gathered that there was another protest today, Wednesday in Oru East, as aggrieved youths of the area bemoaned the brutal killing of their brothers by Ebube Agu security Network.

Earlier, Ohanaeze Youth Council had condemned vehemently the blood thirstiness as exhibited by the security network, and had ordered that perpetrators of the heinous act be brought to book.

The Council, presided over by Comrd. Igboayaka O. Igboayaka also insisted that the State set up a panel of enquiry to ensure that those who were unlawfully slain received justice and their families compensated.