By Okey Chris, Awka and Taiye Odewale, Abuja
It was a moment of horror for residents of Anambra state, as a gunman yesterday, struck midway into an early morning mass, disrupting the session and killing about 8 worshippers and injuring 18 others, at St. Philip’s Catholic Church in Ofufe Amakwa village, Ozubulu, Ekwusigo local government area of the state. Although unoffi cial sources put the casualty fi gure at 47, the state police command, however, said eight persons were killed in the dastardly act. While our reporter said the gunmen were six in number, the police version also said only one gunman was on the shooting spree.
According to our reporter, the gunmen who had masks on their faces, spoke in Igbo language, before opening fi re on worshippers leaving scores killed and several others injured. It was further learnt that the hoodlums were assassins believed to be on the trail of one Chief Allosius Ikegwuonu (Ebubechukwuzo 1 of Ozobulu), a 36-year-old son of the community, alleged to be a drug baron. Ikegwuonu, who incidentally built the invaded church which is closer to his house, was said to have been trailed home by his fellow South Africa-based drug barons over alleged business dispute.
However, upon discovering that he was not at home, the gunmen headed to the church and killed his father, family members and other parishioners sitting at the direction where the targeted victims sat. Police confi rm incident Confi rming the incident, the state Commissioner of Police, Garba Baba Umar, disclosed that eight died at the spot, while 18 were injured.
Th e CP said though no arrest had been made, he however added that the police investigation has revealed that the attack followed a quarrel between two natives of Ozubulu residing overseas. “Our fi ndings showed that the person who carried the attack must be an indigene of the area. We gathered that worshippers for 6 o’clock Sunday mass at St. Philip’s Ozobulu, were in the service when a gunman dressed in black attire covering his face with a cap entered the church and moved straight to a particular direction and opened fi re.
“Th e man after shooting at his targeted victims still went on a shooting spree, killing and wounding other worshippers. We have information that the attack was a result of a quarrel between two natives of Ozubulu residing overseas. Such conduct shows the people behind the act do not fear God,” he said. Umar said it was wrong for the perpetrators of the act to extend their quarrel into the church, adding that the police were on the trail of those behind the act, and that the perpetrators would be brought to book.
Th e police boss further described the insinuation that the attack was carried out by Boko Haram elements as false, and urged the people to go about their normal businesses. He assured that the command was “on top of the situation.” Obiano speaks Also speaking when he visited the horror scene, Governor Willie Obiano condemned the act, but asked Anambrarians and residents to go about their normal businesses. Obiano, while revealing that preliminary security investigations showed that the shooting was caused by a feud between two brothers from the community living outside Nigeria, described it as “sacrilegious and totally unacceptable.”
“We can’t allow this happen in Anambra, we must get everyone involved to face the music. I have also visited Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, where the injured are being treated. Over 50 doctors are already attending to them. Anambra state government will pay for all their medical bills,” he said. Our correspondent reports that both the injured and the dead had been taken to Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi. Massacre sacrilegious act – Ekweremadu Meanwhile, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, has described the act as beastly and sacrilegious.
Ekweremadu, who also described the day as a black Sunday, not only for Anambra state, but the entire nation, called on the security agencies to fi sh out the killers and bring them to justice. He said: “I received with a deep grief the news of the bloodcurdling killing at St. Philip’s Catholic Church, Ozubulu. It is indeed a black Sunday and the act is most sacrilegious and condemnable. “My heartfelt condolences go to the government and good people of Anambra, especially the bereaved families and the Church.
I also pray God to grant the deceased a peaceful repose and the wounded a quick recovery. “However, this dastardly act brings to the fore, once again, the need to re-engineer our security system, especially our policing system to arrest the rising wave of violent crimes in the country.” He added that in the meantime, the least the nation owed the deceased and the casualties was to work with the security agencies “to apprehend the culprits and ensure that justice is done to both the living and the dead”
