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By Emmanuel Adeleke
Tension has erupted at Ezeala/Ezike autonomous community in Umuezeala, Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State, following the gruesome murder of the Deputy Registrar of Federal Polytechnic, Uwana, Ebonyi State, Innocent Obi.
It was gathered that Obi was killed by gunmen, operating under the guise of Biafra agitators.
The deceased, popularly known by villagers as Onye Army, was said to have retired from the military before joining the services of the institution.
He was said to have also applied to be the next substantive Registrar of the institution before he was killed.
According to reports, Obi travelled home to his Umuoboama village for the burial of a relative, who was killed in the North East.
It was learnt that immediately Obi retired to his family house in the village after the funeral, some hoodlums numbering over six invaded the house around 10pm.
The assailants were said to have operated in military and police uniforms.
“They broke through the main door and started using machetes and axes on him.
“His cry for help attracted villagers to the scene, but the boys who were operating on three motorcycles, started shooting consistently into the air.
“The shooting forced everybody who had come out for his rescue back. They abducted Dee Onye Army from that Friday night, leaving heavy blood stains in the house,” one of the villagers said.
The villagers reportedly set up the a search party for him on Saturday.
“It was late Sunday afternoon that we got information about a decomposing corpse lying between Ehime Mbano and Ahiazu Mbaise.
“When our people visited the scene that Sunday, it was the dead body of our brother, Dee Onye Army that we met.
“They gruesomely butchered him beyond recognition.
“Dee Onye Army was a man who ensured that any youth who wanted to go to school got admission. So many youths were given admissions in his school. He never lived like a rich man, always unassuming.
“In fact, it was now that he started building his own personal house in the village and that building is just within decking stage before his death,” the villager added.
The incident is said to have left the community and its neighbours in fear following the reoccurrence of similar killings and other related criminal activities in the area, particularly the killing of about five security operatives in the area.