Tragedy in Ebonyi as gunmen kill traditional ruler

There is palpable tension at Eze Ewa in the North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, where the traditional ruler of Umuezekoha community has been murdered.

Already, the children of the slain monarch, according to a report by The Punch, have gone into hiding.

The attackers were said to have invaded his palace and gunned down the monarch.

Ewa was the chairman of the Ezza North Traditional Rulers Council in the state before he was killed.

The monarch was said to have escaped an assassination attempt on his life in 2022.

The hoodlums behind the assassination attempt then reportedly stormed his wife’s shop at Ahiaofu, along the Enugu-Abakaliki Expressway area of the state, and burnt it down.

Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, who confirmed the development on Tuesday, said he had directed security agents to go all out for the killers of the monarch.

Umahi said during a press conference that the deceased son informed him of the incident while speaking from his hideout.

He said, “The son called me from where he was hiding and said gunmen had killed his father and were also looking for his children. I had to immediately send the police, the Army and the men from the Department of State Services to take over their compound and rescue them.

“I tried to ask questions about him and he said his father was supporting the candidate of a particular party and his decision did not go down well with another party and it is being suspected that it could be the source of his killing. I have directed the Commissioner of Police to fish out the perpetrators and their sponsors.”

The governor said the killing of the monarch might be politically-motivated.

He said, “This is a man that is above 80 years; a man well respected beyond the shores of this state and just for political reasons, the man was shot dead.

“It is so disturbing and it is important that the security agents do the needful and arrest further killings in the state.”

The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Onome Onovwakpayeya, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Abakaliki on Tuesday that the command was aware of the incident.

“Yes, we are aware of the killing and investigation has commenced to fish out the perpetrators of such heinous crime,” she said.