By Emma Ogbuehi (With Agency Report)
The gruesome killings in Anambra State which spiked in the last one week particularly with the killing of Dr. Chike Akunyili, the Medical Director of St. Leo Hospital, Enugu, has roused an exasperated Anambra State governor, Willie Obiano, to action.
Dr. Akunyili, widower of the late Prof. Dora Akunyili, former Minister of Information, and Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), was gunned down at Nkpor while returning from Onitsha where he went to present a paper and receive an award at the memorial lecture put together by a civil society organisation in honour of his late wife.
Obiano placed a N20 million bounty on the killers of Akunyili and nine others.
He announced the bounty during a state-wide broadcast bemoaning the killings.
Obiano admonished security operatives to step up their security network, adding that his administration would no longer tolerate further killings.
According to him: “To reinforce our commitment and seriousness on this issue, I on behalf of the State Government, wish to announce a N20,000,000 reward for any useful information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators of these heinous attacks on our state. The people behind this must be unmasked and brought to book.
“I urge citizens to report to us anybody bearing firearm who is not a security or vigilante personnel, so we can deal with this monster, once and for all.
“I wish to most heartily condole with the families of all those who have lost their loved ones in the course of these senseless attacks.
“I promise you that we will leave no stone unturned in getting justice for them. May their souls rest in peace.
“Finally, I urge all citizens of the state to unite in this fight against all forms of terror, intimidation and tyranny.
“We will not succumb to invaders as I am convinced that no Anambra son will indulge in this kind of heartlessness.
“I warn all those promoting and participating in these violent attacks to leave our state or pay a high price as we will definitely catch up with them.
“Since last weekend, some armed persons have unleashed terror with sporadic attacks on innocent citizens in various parts of the State.
“From the briefings I have received from Security Commanders, Offices of some political parties, branded campaign vehicles and individuals occupying them have been attacked with killings and burning of vehicles observed.
“Other innocent road users have become victims of this menace with many losing their lives and others, their properties.
“Between Sunday 26th and yesterday 28th September, 2021 attacks on citizens at Oko, Agulu, Obosi, Nkpor, Nnobi, Nnewi and other places have left about 10 people dead including an illustrious son of this State, Dr. Chike Akunyili, husband of late Prof Dora Akunyili who was reportedly gunned down yesterday around Nkpor.
“These attacks and accompanying deaths cannot be justified and must stop now.
“I have therefore conducted an extensive security meeting and have directed all security agencies to step up and confront this monster ravaging our land.”
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police in Anambra, Mr. Tony Olofu, has vowed that the command, in collaboration with other security agencies, will deal with the killers of Dr. Akunyili.
The police commissioner, who spoke while confirming Akunyili’s death on Wednesday, sued for calm and stressed that the perpetrators would be unmasked and “decisively dealt with“.
A statement issued by the command’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, on Wednesday in Awka said that Olofu visited the scene where Akunyili was killed in NKpor and two other locations where violent crimes were perpetrated.
Ikenga quoted Olofu as saying that with the way they operated, the gunmen seemed to have lost every iota of human conscience and sensibility in them.
The statement said that at about 5 p.m. around the Nkpor Roundabout and without any provocation, some gunmen attacked and shot a police inspector attached to a Very Important Personality (VIP).
“At Afor Nkpor Junction, three unidentified bodies were recovered, a burnt Toyota Hilux and a vandalised Toyota Hummer bus were also seen at the crime scene.
“The lifeless bodies were taken to the hospital and regrettably one of the bodies was identified as one Dr Chike Akunyili”, Ikenga said in the statement.
He said the bandits also beheaded a yet-to-be identified man and thereafter fled the scene of the crime.
The police commissioner expressed regrets at the unfortunate loss of lives and valuables due to those senseless acts.
According to the PPRO, a team of police operatives attached to the Aguata Area Command at about 2 p.m. on Sept. 28, while on routine patrol along Ezinifite/Igboukwu Road, was attacked by hoodlums.
He said that the bandits, who rode in an unmarked Sienna vehicle and a Toyota Hummer bus, set the police patrol vehicle ablaze and later fled the scene.
“Similarly, there was a gun attack on a member of the public at about 5 p.m. on Oko Road.
“The criminal elements set the vehicle of the victim ablaze, leaving him with a bullet wound and escaped. The victim was rescued and taken to hospital where he is responding to treatment”, he said.
On Sept. 28, some undesirable elements, in an attempt to snatch a Lexus 350 car from its driver on Agulu Road, shot him.
“The attackers abandoned the victim and the car and fled. The victim was immediately rushed to the hospital but was confirmed dead by the doctors on duty.