Gunmen suspected to be assassins in the early hours of Friday murdered, Sunny Ejiagwu, the All Progressives Congress chairman in Ideato North Local Government of Imo state.
Ejiagwu, popularly known as Ohaneze was one of the 27 LGAs chairmen inaugurated on Monday by the new state chairman, Daniel Nwafor, after the state APC rescheduled election as ordered by the court.
The state commissioner of police, Dasuki Galandanchi, who confirmed the murder to our correspondent in a telephone conversation, said that the corpse had been evacuated to a nearby mortuary.
According to the CP, the politician was killed along the Akokwa road in the Ideato North LGA .
The CP said “the APC chairman in Ideato North has been murdered. I was at the scene of the crime and only came back. His corpse has been evacuated to a mortuary.
There is no preliminary suspicion but the investigator would find out. The blood of the innocent would expose them.”
Briefing newsmen at the state party secretariat, APC state chairman, Nwafor, said that the killing was condemnable.
He said that political killings and violence has no place in a democracy.
Nwafor said; “The killing is condemnable because APC preaches peace and political tolerance. People should practice politics without bitterness and violence.
The constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria guarantees freedom of association.
We, therefore, call on the Inspector General of police to press on the commissioner of police to nab the culprits. Imo is a peaceful state and an example of how politics should be played.
The deceased was in our meeting on Thursday and he expressed concern about political violence in his area. He told us that his area is volatile and called on us to come to his rescue when the need arises.
From the information made available to me, he was double-crossed and when he tried to move back he fell into the gutter. His killers went there and shot him severely. “
Meanwhile, the sum of N20 million has been staked as reward for anyone with information concerning the killers.
The Imo State Governor, Mr. Rochas Okorocha, on Friday made promised the reward to fish out the killer of Mr Sunny Ejiagwu.
He was reported killed by gunmen suspected hired assassins four days after he was elected as the APC Chairman in the LGA.
He was killed in Orlu-Akokwa Road on his way home after attending a meeting at the APC Secretariat in Owerri, the state capital.
The spokesperson for the Imo State Police Command, Mr Andrew Enwerem, said the police have launched an investigation into the killing.
Meanwhile, the Imo State APC Chairman, Daniel Nwafor, has condemned the killing, describing it as unfortunate and unwarranted.
Mr Nwafor told reporters at the party’s state secretariate that the murder was capable of causing political chaos in the state.
He called on the security agencies to urgently launch a manhunt for the perpetrators of the act.
He recalled that the deceased had raised fears over his safety on Thursday during one of their meetings, decrying the volatile nature of his local government.
Mr Nwafor, however, called on party supporters in the state to remain calm as the security agencies work to ensure the perpetrators were brought to justice.
