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Suspected cultists kill vigilante operative in Obosi fire exchange

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By Nwabueze Okonkwo, Onitsha

Gunmen suspected to be cultists have shot and killed a vigilante operative attached to Central Security, Obosi in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra state, during an exchange of gunfire, early Thursday morning.

According to sources, the incident occurred opposite St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, Obosi, along the Nkpor/Obosi highway.

The shootout happened barely a month after the President-General of Obosi Development Union, Ikechukwu Okolo was murdered in a similar circumstance by gunmen also suspected to be cultists.

A source revealed the vigilante operatives were on a routine patrol during the wee-hour when they came across the suspects and engaged them in a gunfight.

This newspaper gathered that in the exchange of fire, the suspects gunned down one of the operatives who died later as a result of excessive bleeding, while the suspects were said to have escaped with bullet wounds.

The incident disrupted yesterday’s peaceful protest proposed by some landlords and landladies of Ogbodogbo land in Obosi which was alleged to have been grabbed by an engineering company, without their consent.

The landladies had converged on Obosi town hall yesterday morning in preparation for the protest but were soon dispersed by some security operatives on the grounds of insecurity, particularly the killing of the vigilante operative.

The protest could no longer hold as scheduled.

Both the traditional ruler of the Obosi Kingdom, Igwe Chidubem Iweka and his Palace Secretary, Chief Shedrack Okenwa confirmed the incident but declined further comments and referred newsmen to the police.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the incident and stated that the police have launched a manhunt to track down the culprits and bring them to book.

Some prominent Obosi indigenes who spoke on the matter on an anonymous condition said the suspects could be the same culprits who allegedly killed the Obosi town union boss early in January, this year.

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