Some gunmen have beheaded a chieftain of the Labour Party (LP) in Abia state, South-east Nigeria.
The victim, Zachary Maduka, a campaign director of the LP in 2023 general elections, was beheaded by the hoodlums on Wednesday night, Premium Times learnt.
Maduka, 70, hailed from Ezieke Akpukpa, a community in Isuikwuato Local Government Area of the state.
Sources told this newspaper that the gunmen numbering about 10 wielded pump action rifles, machetes and other dangerous weapons when they stormed the community.
The hoodlums, it was gathered, later shot the victim at a drinking joint in Amelechi, a village in the Akpukpa community.
“They beheaded him and left with his head,” a source, who asked not to be named, said.
The deceased until his death was the chairperson of the Uturu Development Union in the community.
The police spokesperson in Abia state, Maureen Chinaka, confirmed the incident in a statement on Thursday.
Ms Chinaka, an assistant superintendent of police, said a joint team of security operatives comprising the police and the military were deployed to the area upon receipt of information about the incident.
“Tragically, they recovered Maduka’s body. Photographic evidence was captured at the scene, the deceased’s remains were promptly evacuated and deposited at Marist Mortuary Uturu,” she said.
She said the police had begun investigations to track down the killers of the LP chieftain.
Like other states in Nigeria’s South-east, security has deteriorated in Abia State with frequent attacks by armed persons.
The attacks often target security agencies, government officials and facilities.
The Nigerian government has accused the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the region. But the group has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attacks.
IPOB is leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra which it wants carved out from the South-east and some parts of the South-south Nigeria. (Premium Times)
