Parts of Owerri, Mbaitoli, and environs in Imo State boiled as gunmen who were enforcing the sit-at-home order wreaked havoc on Friday, December 9, 2022.
In what looked like coordinated attacks, the assailants struck at different locations and killed a policeman identified as Prince Iheme, elder brother to Nollywood superstar, Osita Iheme popularly known as Pawpaw.
The Imo state Commissioner for Solid Minerals, Martin Eke, sustained injuries after being matched by the attackers.
Reports say the gunmen, who rode in Tundra operational vehicles, shot sporadically forcing the locals to run for cover.
The incident forced businesses to wound up abruptly, while roads were quickly deserted as motorists abandoned their vehicles and scampered for safety.
At Orji, a community sharing boundary with the state capital, another group of gunmen, loaded in three vehicles and wearing black clothes attacked residents and passersby, including policemen.
According to eyewitnesses, the gunmen met policemen at 7up junction Orji and opened fire on one cop who died on the spot.
An eyewitness says: ” 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 by whiskers now. They stopped before us and shot in the eye and asked us to go home. They didn’t shoot at us maybe because I was in the midst of some elderly women.”
Reports added that the marauding gunmen also shot indiscriminately at Nkwo-Orji market before making their way toward the Okigwe Road.
While at Ubomiri in the Mbaitoli Local Government of the State, the gunmen attacked the convoy of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Mbaitoli/Ikeduru Federal Constituency, Akarachi Amadi.
While Prince Iheme was killed on the spot, the state commissioner for Solid Minerals, Eke, was cut with a machete.
An eyewitness who craved anonymity said: “This attack is politically motivated. We just finished at one campaign rally ground and were heading to Ubomiri. Our convoy was attacked at Amawuihe before Ubomiri.
“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.”
