Gunmen kill artisan, kidnap others in Imo

There was panic in Imo State on Friday evening when gunmen killed an auto mechanic identified as Valentine Enwerem.

He was killed at a place called U-turn after Nkwo Orji market junction on Owerri-Okigwe Road.

After shooting him dead, the gunmen kidnapped the three persons he was carrying in a vehicle.

The development caused panic in the area as the gunmen shot continuously as they made their way out of the scene.

The deceased’s colleagues told our correspondent at his workshop at the Orji Mechanic Village on Saturday, that his killers drove towards the Okigwe end of the road after killing him and abducting the occupants of his vehicle.

One of his colleagues said, “They said they didn’t come for him and asked him to cooperate with them. They later shot him dead and zoomed towards the Okigwe end of the road after kidnapping the people in the vehicle.

“He was from the Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State and his wife sells things besides his workshop. This is very unfortunate. We are pained and highly embittered by his loss.”

Also, two chieftains of the All Progressives Congress were the same Friday evening kidnapped at two locations in the Isiala Mbano LGA of the state.

While Chief Godson Obijiaku was kidnapped at his community in Amauzairi, another politician cum businessman from the Ikeduru LGA, popularly known as ‘Ability’, was kidnaped at a pharmaceutical shop at Amaraku.

The development caused panic in the areas as people ran inside their houses and closed for the day.

A source that does not want to be mentioned said, “Chief Obijiaku, an aspirant for the upcoming LGA Chairmanship election, has been kidnapped.

“As they approached Amaraku, they saw a Tundra vehicle parked in front of a pharmaceutical shop, they stopped, went there and kidnapped Chief Ability and released multiple gunshots as they made their way out of the environment. The area is panicking. Government should do something.”

The spokesperson for the police in the state, Micheal Abattam, had yet to respond to an inquiry concerning the incidents as of the time of filing this report.