BY AGNES NWORIE,ABAKALIKI
The Nigeria Police Ebonyi State Command, has arrested and paraded Daniel Igwe, (m), before the State Governor, David Nweze Umahi, on allegations of abduction and murder of five people at Enyigba community in the Abakaliki Local Government Area.
Recall that the people of Enyigba and their neighbouring Echi-Alike, Ikwo local Government Area have been at war for several years over ownership of some parcels of land.
The crisis worsened last month when five people, among them an elderly man and four little children were abducted by suspected warlords.
Umahi gave the warlords seven days to release the abducted people but they ignored the ultimatum.
However, the Police arrested Igwe over the killing the missing five people, aged between six and 60 years.
The state’s Commissioner of Police, Garba Aliyu, paraded the suspect before Umahi during a meeting of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Ikwo and Izzi stakeholders with the governor.
Aliyu said, “This is the culprit, but he was insisting they were five in number. That four of them aged between six and 12 years while the last person among them was an elderly person of about 60 years old.
“He confessed along with others that they actually did what they had to do; they killed the five people from Izzi and from there they took them on a wheelbarrow and deposited them in a river.
“We are trying everything possible to uncover the exact place. We went along with him. We are still going back because he has mentioned a lot of others who are his accomplices.”
After seeing the suspect, Umahi sued for peace between the two local government areas, admonished the people about bloodletting, saying that blood of those killed would always speak.
Umahi said: “I want the Izzi people to know that the government of Ebonyi State, Christi Association of Nigeria and Ikwo people have kept to their word by arresting the chief culprit. I was told that others were at large, but we are looking for them. We have dispatched people to those areas to look for them. Be careful. Stop spilling blood for any reason at all because, the blood of those people will speak.”
However, the alleged suspect, Igwe, while answering questions from the governor, denied involvement in the killings.
