The Anambra State Police Command on December 2, 2019, issued a statement declaring one Barrister Ifeanyi Ejiofor, wanted over his alleged role in the gruesome murder of two senior serving police officers in Oraifite, Ekwusigo local government area of Anambra state, recently. The statement signed by SP Haruna Mohammed, the Command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO), advised any member of the public with useful information that would lead to the arrest of Ejiofor to urgently assist police with such information.
The two police officers killed during the unfortunate incident were Assistant Commissioner of Police Oliver Inoma-Abbey who before his murder was the Divisional Police Officer, Ekwusigo local government area, and Assistant Superintendent of Police Joseph Akubo, PMF, SARS and Special Anti-Cult Units in the Ekwusigo council. The duo led team of police on official duties to Ifite village, Oraifite when hoodlums suspected to be members of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) attacked the vehicle conveying them and thereafter set their corpse ablaze.
Late Oliver Inoma-Abbey from Bonny Island in Rivers was to be installed Chief and Head of the Abbey-Hart Chieftaincy House of ancient Bonny Kingdom by next year after his retirement slated around April 2020 before he was murdered. Wife of the late Abbey, Mrs Rita Inoma-Abbey, equally a serving Assistant Commissioner of Police, has formally announced the demise of her husband on her Facebook, describing the incident as `very painful’. “This is to officially announce the death of my dear husband ACP Oliver Ibidough Inoma-Abbey. May God alone be praised, He giveth and He taketh, Indeed, God is perfect in all things. Adieu my dear friend, soulmate and husband,” Rita said.
Godswill Jumbo, an indigene of Bonny, said the gruesome murder of Abbey was a huge loss to the Bonny people saying, “Oraifite Community must come and explain to us what happened to our brother, father, uncle and highly respected chief-elect”. Before the violent incident that made Oraifite, a sleepy community in Anambra, to be in the news for the wrong reasons, Ejiofor, a legal practitioner, was only known for his unholy romance with the proscribed IPOB for its alleged violent activities. IPOB, a splinter group from the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) was founded by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu who went missing, abandoning a case of treasonable felony levelled against him by the federal government.
But Ejiofor, wearing the toga of a legal practitioner, is alleged to secretly drive IPOB activities, defending members of the group whenever the cause havoc anywhere across the country. However, the veil that covered the hidden identity of the Ifite Oraifite-born lawyer, whose alleged ambition is to become one of the Biafran emperors when the dream struggle for Biafra comes to fruition, was the ugly incident in Oraifite between December 1 and December 2, 2019. Ejiofor the seventh out of nine children of late Nwokolie Ejiofor was allegedly in Oraifite, his country home for the burial of his uncle Rev. Louis Chukwuemeka Ejiofor who was buried on Nov. 29 and outing service held on Sunday December 1.
It was alleged that as the self-acclaimed leader of one of the masquerade groups in Oraifite called `Otu Eke of Uto Ube’ which he claimed was registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Ejiofor left an order that no other masquerade in town should kit in the same regalia with that of his Otu Eke group.
But his alleged arrogance and dictatorial tendencies resulted to the balkanization of the Otu Eke of Uto Ube masquerade group as the members some of whom are more than 70 years old later formed new masquerade groups called Otu Afor, Otu Orie, Otu Nkwo. A source from the community said the final straw that broke the camel’s back was at the burial venue of one Mr John Okafor, a member of Otu Afor group who died and was buried on Saturday Nov. 30, a day after Ejiofor’s uncle Louis was buried.
“During Okafor’s burial ceremony, Otu Afor masquerade appeared in Otube masquerade regalia and this was what sparked off the violence that made Ejiofor set Oraifite community on fire. When the signal was sent to Ejiofor that Otu Afor masquerade appeared in Otube regalia, he ordered his boys and violent IPOB members who guard his house to storm the venue of Okafor’s burial and arrest the Otu Afor group members including the masquerade for disobeying his decree. Some of the people were taken hostage to Ejiofor’s house and this eventually ignited crisis of monumental magnitude which attracted police and sadly consumed the lives of Abbey and Akubo”, the source alleged.
Ejiofor who had since gone underground in a video clip posted online denied of any complicity in the alleged murder of the senior police officers. He claimed that what rather happened was a mere conflict involving some locals which police stepped into. Ejiofor who said it was due to the avalanche of attack in his house and burning of his home that made him to escape to safety, added that he had reported the matter to Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Abuja branch and called on international bodies to step into the matter.
The Oraifite Improvement Union (OIU), Anambra state, however, condemned the violence and lawlessness which resulted in the killing of the two senior police officers. The community equally banned all masquerade groups from operating in the community and reiterated the resolve of the leadership of the town to aid efforts by the law enforcement agents to smoke out the perpetrators of the heinous crime.
Sir Sunny Igboanuzue, President General of OIC, his secretary Offor Uche, and the traditional ruler of the Oraifite, HRH Igwe Daniel Udeoji signed the statement on behalf of OIU made available to journalists in Awka. Anambra State House of Assembly also condemned the act and urged the state Commissioner of Police, John Abang, to bring to justice the perpetrators of the heinous crime at Oraifite, Ekwusigo. The lawmakers made their position known in a motion by Mr Onyebuchi Offor, representing Ekwusigo constituency. Speaker of the House, Mr Uche Okafor, while commiserating with the families of the killed officers and Oraifite people who were injured said the ugly incident was totally bad and assured the people that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.
With the position of Oraifite Improvement Union and Anambra lawmakers, it is evident that stakeholders in the area are unhappy with the unfortunate incident. However, what is now needed is for all and sundry to join hands with the security agents to trace the whereabouts of Ejiofor so that he will help the police to unravel the truth behind the gruesome murder of Inoma-Abbey and Akubo as that for now is central for the return of peace in Oraifite.
Dr Uzoechi is Enugu-based public affairs analyst.
