On Saturday, masked gunmen raided Ekwe Community in Imo State’s Isu Local Government Area and seized 15 male teenagers from the community, causing chaos.
According to a community elder, the gunmen invaded the village through the Njaba River, which separates Ekwe and Amucha communities in Njaba LGA.
Akubuo Princewill, a resident of Ekwe Community, told our correspondent over the phone that the gunmen abducted 15 young guys who were mining sand along the Njaba River.
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According to Akubuo, the gunmen shoot indiscriminately into the air and are looking for additional neighborhood youngsters to kidnap.
He claimed that when they were spotted from afar, some young men and other Indians rushed into adjacent bushes to avoid being kidnapped.
Akubuo appealed to the state government to come to the rescue of the community even as he wondered what could have informed the invasion of the community.
He said, “We are appealing to the state governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma to come to our rescue.
“This morning, some masked gunmen invaded our community, Ekwe through Amucha, arrested some young men who were excavating sand at Njaba River.
“After that, they went into the community shooting sporadically leading to people running helter-skelter.
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“Some ran into the surrounding bushes to escape arrest. The gunmen were arresting only male young men. They ignored girls and women as well as elderly men.
“Later, they stormed the palace of our traditional ruler, Eze Nicholas Ibekwe, commanded all to lie down and released about 20 gunshots into the air. They didn’t kill anybody but we are hearing that some might have sustained gunshot injuries.”
Eze Nicholas Ibekwe, the community’s traditional ruler, corroborated the account to our correspondent.
Eze Ibekwe revealed that four of the shooters attacked his palace and ordered everyone to lie down.
Before storming his castle, the monarch said he received intelligence that hooded gunmen had arrested 15 of his people who were mining sand near the Njaba River.
According to the royal father, one of the young men who was imprisoned but later released due to his sight impairment was the one who informed the community of the situation.
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Four of the shooters who assaulted the traditional king’s castle wore camouflage but no masks, according to the traditional ruler.
Eze Ibekwe also said that one of the shooters spoke Hausa, and one of the persons commanded to lie down at his palace, who spoke Hausa, answered to the gunman’s surprise.
The gunman then turned toward the king and remarked in pidgin English, “You claimed you’re a traditional ruler, but you dey teach criminals,” according to the monarch.
When contacted, Michael Abattam, a police spokesperson for the command, recommended the community to file a formal report with the local police station so that the police could investigate.
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