Concerned Ebonyi Citizen Petitions IGP Over Killing Of 30 Persons

A concerned citizen of Ebonyi State, Chief Julius Oji, has petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, over the killing of over 30 people in Ebonyi Community.

It was also revealed in the petition that three indigenes of Ekoli Edda community and a police inspector were also killed on December 26, 2022, during an attack on Stanley Emegha, the Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Ebonyi State.

According to Vanguard, the petitioner copied the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila and the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Tony Ojukwu.

The Lagos-based business mogul, accused the Ebonyi State government of failing to halt the killings in the state, especially Edda (Afikpo South), where known culprits of the campaign of violence in the area are let go after each round of killing.

He further said the government just set up another commission of inquiry after the recent killings in spite of similar panels set up in the past and recommendations made which were not acted upon.

He also recalled that in the last eight years the Edda community had recorded over 30 cases of murder, arson, rape, grievous assault, intimidation, among others.

“Today, the Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, has again set up a commission of inquiry over the recent killings of 26th December, 2022 and 1st January, 2023 in Ekoli and Amoso Edda respectively.

“Our question today is why the state government is setting up a new commission of inquiry when it deliberately refused to implement previous resolutions and recommendations already made and made available to him that perhaps mentioned the same known actors and perpetrators of numerous crimes of political killings in Edda, whom the government deliberately refused to ensure their prosecution because they are all well known?

“The most worrisome thing among them is that the state government is aware of these known actors perpetrating these crimes and has continued to play to the the gallery thereby setting up an inquiry commisson that I seriously suspect will only act on the instruction of the state government thereby freeing the few arrested crime actors in no distant time” he said.

He, therefore, called on the Inspector-General of Police and the Commissioner of Police in the state to expedite action in resolving the latest killing of three members of the Edda community including an inspector of police.