At least, six persons have died following an altercation in Okpo, Ihechiowa in Arochukwu Local Government Area of Abia State.
What started as a beautiful day ended with sorrows for families whose loved ones were caught up in deadly gun attacks that held the village hostage for up to a week.
It all began on January 3, 2022, when sporadic shootings woke the quiet community of Okpo to a panic mode. People ran helter-skelter with no one knowing what exactly was happening. A group of armed young men were later seen with assorted weapons, machetes, guns, etc.
Sources indicated that the armed young men in their sporadic shooting had stationed themselves at the Ugwu Olenta bridge —the only exit from the village —stopping panicked villagers from escaping to safety.
To appease the group, some elders of the village reportedly mustered the courage to meet them at the bridge —holding ọmụ-nkwụ (tender palm fronds usually found on the topmost part of a palm-tree)—as a sign of peace.
One of the elders who went there but spoke to our reporter on the condition of anonymity said that on getting there, the armed men who dressed in black polo shirts and black trousers with boots and berets ordered them to kneel down.
“They asked us to kneel down but considering my own age as the most senior, they asked me to stand aside. We enquired whom they were and they told us that they were ESN people and that they came to fish out criminals in our community.”
The old man explained.
From the old man’s account, the armed men disclosed that they were members of the Eastern Security Network, ESN.
However, it was gathered that at least, six people including a certain Reverend Sio Reverend of the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, and his son, Robinson had already been killed in the fracas allegedly by youths from Obichie, another kindred. They were said to have poured acid and petrol on their victims before setting them ablaze. The cleric was said to be taking his injured son to the hospital when they both met their deaths.
On further inquiry, it was gathered that a group of cultists had beaten up another man named Njoku in his house and left him for dead—a situation that saw Njoku’s wife raised the alarm that attracted people. This eventually snowballed into a clash that allegedly got the attention of the ESN who have continued to lay siege in the village even as of the time of this report.
According to our source, the ESN made it clear to the elders that they were not leaving the village until they get the people who orchestrated the clashes and many attempts to get them to leave have proved abortive. No one was allowed to leave or come into the village.
There was a little relief when soldiers were sighted in the village, they paraded around the village but unfortunately, nobody has been arrested, rather, some villagers said they saw the soldiers making merry at occasions in the village.
Meanwhile, other sources told our reporter that that was not the first time the members of the ESN were invading their village.
“They have studied all the nooks and crannies of our entire village, this isn’t the first time they would be coming here, we feel unsafe” said one of the villagers.
However, the elders of the village have been meeting to restore the peace in Okpo.
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