Tension as Four  Killed, Three Missing in  Enugu Community Clash

Gideon Arinze in Enugu

Tensions is currently brewing in Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area of Enugu State following the alleged killing of four Aku youths by members of the neighbouring Ikolo community.

The victims were reportedly part of a search party looking for three missing youths, who were suspected to have been kidnapped by Ikolo residents.

According to a source from the community, the tragic development began on August 1, 2024, when three young men from Aku who were identified as Frank Didigwu, Chibuike Nnadi, and Obiora Dugwu, went to Ikolo to seek traditional medicine for the critically ill mother of one of them.

He said that “on getting to the premises of the herbalist, one of the victims put a phone call to his sister, confirming that they have got to the residence of the herbalist and awaited their turn to receive attention.

“Since that call, the three young men have not been seen or heard from, and their phones have remained switched off” he said, adding that on Thursday, August 8, the search party was allegedly ambushed by suspected armed Ikolo residents, leading to the killing of four of them, while others sustained gunshot injuries.

In an emergency press conference held in reaction to the killings yesterday, the Aku General Assembly (AGA) condemned the incident as a dastardly act of criminality, terrorism, and murder.

“The Aku community feels burdened to inform the world of a dastardly act of criminality, terrorism, and murder being unleashed on its citizens by the Ikolo community of Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area of Enugu State without cause or provocation,” the AGA said in its statement read by the secretary of the AGA, James Ezike.