Reports from Awka, Anambra State capital, say gunmen believed to be cultists have gone on rampage killing people at will.
Investigation shows that no fewer than 15 persons have been gunned down in just two weeks in the city.
The orgy of killings started on Easter Sunday when as much as six youths were reportedly gunned down.
While the Easter merriment was being observed by Christians to commemorate the resurrection of Christ, the happiness of some people were cut short by gunmen.
“Some were felled at Okpuno area, behind Juhel, others were murdered around Eke Awka area and Obinagu,” a source said.
One of the incidents was said to have happened opposite Dike Park, around the Eke Awka Market, in Awka, the State capital.
Just seven days after the Easter killings, three other persons also suspected to belong to secret cults were gunned down in the city.
Though security operatives could not confirm the number, a source said that two of the victims were killed in her presence.
The source said: “Two tricycles were driving recklessly along Zik Avenue at Eke Awka. They were pursuing themselves. Around Eke Awka market, the tricycle at the front got stuck in the traffic, and one boy inside it alighted and started running.
“Two boys in the tricycle behind also jumped down and pursued him. He ran towards Parkers’ area, along Zik Avenue, and diverted into a road by the right, into a mechanic workshop.
“The boys pursued him into the place, dragged him out and shot him dead. The incident caused pandemonium, and people were just running in all directions,” the source said.
Not done, two days after the same incident, another person described as Nwanayoeze, a popular Awka youth was gunned down around tricycle park, Unizik Junction.
Traders around Unizik Junction confirmed that Nwanayoeze was a very prominent youth in the entire area and also controlled revenue from tricycle operators in the area, and was feared by many people, even though they denied that he had any link with cultism.
The killings however did not abate. Thursday of the same week, a former president general of Amansea community in Awka North Local Government Area, Chief Cajetan Nwokike was killed.
On Friday also, at Unizik Junction, a man identified as Christian was gunned down. He is said to be an indigene of Enugu State, but manages a popular transport company in Awka that has fleets of luxury SUVs that ferry passengers to Abuja and Lagos.
He was gunned down in the presence of his co-workers by gunmen who came in a yellow tricycle. Eyewitnesses said the assailants were not in a hurry to leave after the assignment, as they entered the tricycle and drove away slowly.
The developments have heightened tension in the state capital and beyond, with residents not sure of who would be the next target.
“Security agencies seem to be overwhelmed; everyone is in panic mode,” a distressed resident told newsmen.
Meanwhile, in a recent press conference, the police stated its frustration, saying that most cult kingpins arrested by police were being freed by very influential people in the city.
The commissioner of Police in Anambra State, CP Aderemi Adeoye, who was represented by Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department, DCP Akin Fakorede, said: “When those things that have happened over a period of time begin to happen again, the question people should ask is Why?
“Could you imagine that the cultists we arrested, charged to court, and got remanded in prison custody that some powerful locals are going to the judiciary to lobby to get them released?
“And some have been released. And they are the ones unleashing this mayhem again! That is number one.
“Two, you must have heard of the AK-47 we recently recovered from a suspect in Awada. What the suspect told us was that they procured it for him to engage in a showdown with a rival cult group.
“Now, if that AK-47 was not recovered or had joined the recent cult-related clash, could you imagine what the casualty level would have been?
“We are already going after the cultists; and if we find that anybody is subverting justice, or is subverting due process, to get the cultists off the hook, they will face the music, notwithstanding whether the person is in the judiciary or civil populace,” he said.
Currently, major stakeholders in Awka who are worried about the orgy of bloodletting have started working towards finding a lasting solution to the problem.
Three prominent sons of Awka, the member representing Awka South 1 constituency, Hon Henry Mbachu, the Managing Director of Awka Capital Territory Development Authority (ACTDA) Mr. Ossy Onuko and the Transition Committee Chairman of Awka South Local Government Area, Mr Anagor ThankGod have teamed up to get security agencies to stop the killings.
Addressing newsmen on behalf of the three after a meeting, Onuko said “Finding a lasting solution to the security challenges is necessary as the elected and appointed officers owe it as a duty to the people to keep Awka safe not just for residents but for thousands of investors trooping into the city.”
