A former governor of Imo State, Emeka Ihedioha has condemned the killing of five people in Ezinachi community in Okigwe Local Government Area of Imo State.
Ihedioha, in a statement issued on Sunday, August 24, described the killing of Emeka Ezeagwula and his wife, Blessing, Ejike Otuonye, Chidi Chineke, and a member of the local vigilante as a massacre.
Recall that the victims were said to have been murdered in cold blood by some gunmen on Saturday, August 23.
According to Ihedioha, this heinous act is not just a statistic but transcends to cutting short, the lives of fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, and defenders of their community.
He also decried the erosion of human dignity, and the indifference that continues to embolden evil across the land.
He said, “I stand in deep mourning with the families of the victims, the Ezinachi community, – and the entire Okigwe zone. Their pain is our collective pain. Their loss is an assault on all of us as a people.”
The former governor further called on security agencies and the state to rise to their constitutional mandate – to not only apprehend the perpetrators of this heinous crime – but also to implement concrete measures that will prevent further bloodshed in our communities.
“Our people deserve to live in peace, to till their lands without fear, and to sleep at night without the dread of gunfire. We cannot normalise tragedy.
We cannot accept insecurity as fate. May the souls of the departed find rest, and may God grant comfort to the grieving families,” Ihedioha stated.