Ebonyi state governor, David Nweze Umahi, has condemned in strong terms the killing of a couple in Afikpo North local government by yet to be identified assailants.
The deceased, Mr. Joseph Onya (42) and his pregnant wife, Mrs. Ngozi Onya (35) from Amuzu Nkpoghoro, Afikpo North LGA had gone to work in their rice farm at the Ameta axis of the local government on Wednesday October 7, but couldn’t return.
This prompted the community to deploy a search party of youth, in company of policemen, to the farmland where the couple were found brutally tortured and murdered in cold blood, with signs of sexual assault on the pregnant woman.
The already decomposing bodies of the couple were buried Friday, after a funeral mass by a reverend father. The couple leaving behind three children: Godswill Oko Onya (11),
Favour Elese Onya (8) and Blessing Ogeri Onya(4).
Expectedly, the murder of the couple has attracted condemnation from Nigerians within and outside the state. Many staged a peaceful protest Friday night and demanded government’s intervention in arresting insecurity in the LGA.
During a visit to commiserate with the bereaved family on Saturday, represented by the chairman of Afikpo North LGA, Obiageri Oko-Enyim, alongside stakeholders from the LGA, Umahi condemned the killing of the young couple and ordered for full scale investigation into the circumstances that led to the murder.
The governor revealed that the government will take over the education and welfare of the three children left behind by the deceased.
Umahi assured that the state government will continue to provide the enabling environment for the protection of lives and property of residents in the state.
