Chairman of the All Progressives Congres (APC) in Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo, Sunny Ejiagwu, was fatally shot on Friday morning by gunmen suspected to be assassins.
Mr Ejiagwu was one of the 27 council chairmen inaugurated on July 23 by the newly-elected Imo APC Chairman, Daniel Nwafor.
Commissioner of Police in Imo, Dasuki Galandanchi, who confirmed the murder in a telephone interview with newsmen in Owerri, said that Ejiagwu’s corpse had been evacuated to a mortuary.
According to Galandanchi, the incident took place along Akokwa Road in the Ideato North Local Government Area.
“The APC Chairman in Ideato North has been murdered. I was at the scene of the crime. His corpse has been evacuated to a mortuary.
“There is no preliminary suspect but the investigator would find out but the blood of the innocent would expose the killers,” the commissioner said.
Mr Nwafor also confirmed the incident while speaking with reporters at the state secretariat of the party, saying that the killing was condemnable.
Nwafor said that Ejiagwu was double-crossed and that when he tried to move back he fell into a gutter with the assailants going after him and shooting him from close range.
“The killing is condemnable because APC preaches peace and political tolerance. People should play politics without bitterness and violence.
“The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees freedom of association. We, therefore, call on the inspector-general of police to compel the commissioner of police to nab the culprits.
“Imo State is a peaceful state and an example of how politics should be played.
“The deceased was in our meeting on Thursday and he expressed concern about political violence in his area. He told us that his area is volatile and called on us to come to his rescue when the need arises.
“This is a sad development in our political process. We call on Nigerians to condemn political killings and violence,” Nwafor said.
