By Okey Maduforo Awka.
About eight persons were abducted and twelve others injured when suspected gunmen stormed the venue of Ozo Tittle at Amakor village in Nanka Community of Orumba North local government area of Anambra state.
According to one of the victims who was one of the candidates for the tittle taking Bar Emmanuel Ilo, the event was ongoing when the gunmen came calling, adding that he managed to escape from the suspected gunmen.
According to him ; Mr Peter Emerie Ilo and Chike Ilo (who were brothers to the Amakor village Chairman, Barr. Obinna Ilo), and Madueke Nwafor — were being initiated into the ọzọ society at the well-attended event, before the men stormed.
“While the event was at its climax, some armed men, some of whom covered their faces, stormed the venue, in the company of some members of the community (including former Chairman of village, Mr. Chinedu Nwankwo, and a Caretaker Committee Chairman of the village, one Mr. Ejike Nwafor), and began to ‘act’ immediately”
Continuing Ilo said that the policemen guarding the venue tried to resist the people, but were ‘overpowered’ by the armed men.
“Without any explanation, or engagement with the organizers of the event, the men began to ‘scatter’ things in the venue, intimidate, and brutalize many of the participants and the organizers, even to the point of kicking some of them on their manhood, while the armed men stood and watched, including some of them dressed in police uniform”
ilo further narrated that, after brutalizing the people, many of them, numbering about eight persons (including the Amakor village Chairman, Barr. Obinna Ilo, Emerie Ilo, Sam Emenike, and Chief Asina Okafor, among others), were bundled into some awaiting Sienna vehicles and driven out to an unknown destination; while some other participants managed to escape and went into hiding since then.
He lamented that the whereabouts of the abducted men have remained unknown till date, as no official contact had been made to any of their family members by the abductors. He also noted that the phone numbers of the people have remained switched off since then, even as the identities of their abductors and the reason for their abduction remain yet unknown, thereby throwing the families and the entire community into uncertainty.
On his own part, when this reporter contacted him, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Anambra State Police Command, SP Ikenga Tochukwu, said he was not aware of any such incident, adding that the people should go to the closest police station and make a report.
Regarding the speculations that some people in police uniform were among those who abducted the men, the Police Spokesman said police don’t abduct or kidnap people.
“Police don’t kidnap, and the Police don’t abduct. If they were arrested, police would have reached out to their families; they would allow them to make calls. So, we don’t operate like that,” SP Ikenga said.
