Gunmen Suspected to be Herdsmen Kill Father of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Leader and INEC Officer in Ebonyi State
Gunmen suspected to be herdsmen have been reported to have killed the father of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Leader, Damian Okafor, Pa Ajah Damia Okafor, in his farm at Ishiagu, Ebonyi State. The INEC Assistant Electoral Officer attached to Afikpo North Local Government Area, Emmanuel Igwe, was also killed, while his wife was abducted.
According to Demian Okeafor, the leader of Ohaneze Ndigbo Youth, who spoke with journalists in Abakaliki, “There was an attack on the Ishiagu-Mpu road which leads to the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway. The attackers shot an INEC staff and kidnapped his wife before fleeing into the nearby bush. While in the bush, they encountered my father, who was planting yams on his farm. In order to prevent my father from disclosing their location, they brutally dismembered him. It was a horrific sight, and I was unable to drive. Today, I went to the mortuary to confirm it myself.”
Emmanuel Ajah, the Chairman of Ivo Local Government Area, who confirmed the incident, expressed that after killing the INEC staff, the herdsmen dragged his wife into the bush. En route to the bush, they found an elderly man on his farmland and struck him on the head with an Indian bamboo stick. They then proceeded to cut him up like a cow. Ajah also mentioned that he had mobilized the military, police, and his team to search the bush for the abducted woman, stressing that they would not rest until she was safely rescued.
Demian Okeafor, the Ohaneze Ndigbo Youth leader, has urged the government to intervene because his community is helpless. He insisted that about three people lost their lives during the attack, including the INEC staff, his father, and another man from the Akaeze community.
The Ivo Local Government Area is one of the most affected areas in Ebonyi state from herdsmen attacks, and the farmers-herders clashes.
