Shooting On Enugu–Abakaliki Highway, Councillor Flees
Vehicular movement was Tuesday disrupted along the Enugu-Abakaliki expressway as a result of heavy shooting at the Ezilo axis by some alleged hoodlums.
Our correspondent reports that two persons, Monday, had allegedly lost their lives in a renewed boundary fracas between Ezzilo and Iyionu communities, located in Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
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It could not be immediately established if Tuesday’s shooting had any connection with the dispute.
Governor David Umahi confirmed the killings during a security council meeting in Abakaliki. He also ordered the arrest of the councillor representing the area, who he said had been fueling the crisis.
The councillor, our correspondent gathered, is on the run. Umahi explained that efforts were being made to resolve the crisis, adding that the zone had been declared a buffer zone.
In his words, “But the councillor took some foreign investors to the land and this led to shootings during which two persons died.”
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On the renewed crisis at Effium community in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of the state, Gov Umahi said it was being escalated by some publications in some conventional and social media, adding that, “One reporter’s publication in a national daily at a time peace was gradually returning to the area heightened tension and led to recent killings in the area.”
The governor also designated some areas as displaced people’s camps where fleeing victims would be accommodated and taken care of by the state government. He informed those affected to find their ways to the camps for safety and adequate medical care.
On the shooting on the Abakalili-Enugu highway, the spokesperson of the Ebonyi State police command, Mrs Loveth Odah, while confirming the development, said the police commissioner, Mr Aliyu Garba, had dispatched police patrol teams to restore peace and open up the road for users.
She nonetheless said the shooting was not related to the boundary dispute because ‘the disputed area is not close to the highway’.
