A cleric, Bishop Eleanya Ugorji has said more than 25 persons were killed by unknown gunmen who invaded Omoku town in Rivers State last weekend. Among the victims was his younger brother, Ekwela, his wife Victoria and eight others who had their heads chopped off.
Ugorji, the presiding Bishop of God’s Victorious Church, Omoku, told journalists at the Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government area headquarters that the death of Ekwela and Victoria was politically-motivated.
The cleric said that before Ekwela’s murder in his late 40s, he was a member of one of the two major political parties in the state.
He said, “It was on Friday and we started hearing gunshots between 9:00pm and 10:00pm or thereabouts. After a while, it ceased and later after a while, I heard a smash on my window. If you go round, you will see that all the windows are smashed.
“By daybreak, we saw my younger brother, Ekwela Ugorji, and the wife, Victoria, dead outside. My younger brother was beheaded. My younger brother was a politician and that is all that I know about him. My younger brother’s wife was a trader. He is in his mid-40s.
“I don’t think the killers are armed robbers. In Rivers State actually you know this politics of a thing is what has been on the ground and you talk of cultists, cultism has been there, but it has been lying low. When you come to the local government area, these two parties are really struggling to see who takes over.
“But, things were also moving on well until after the announcement of the Supreme C ourt, we felt that everything had ended but before we knew it, things started coming up again. Gunshots of that day was something else; everywhere. About 25 people were killed that night and about 10 were beheaded in Omoku here.”
-Leadership
