The survivors of the recent mass murder on June 30, 2025 at Ogboji in Orumba South council of Anambra by unidentified gunmen have extolled the public spirit and kind disposition of Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu, the Anambra State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for offering them succour and shoulder to cry on.
The APC flagbearer who visited those that are hospitalized, the survivors and families of those who lost their lives in the incident urged them to take heart, lamenting the apparent worsening security situation in the State.
Ukachukwu who was represented by top officers of Ikukuoma Foundation (IF) led by Hon (Engr) Tony Ezekwelu a former Majority Leader in Anambra State Assembly and Chief Arinzechukwu Awogu, former Ogbaru Local Government chairman, however gave all citizens of the state hope that by voting APC on Nov 8,2025 governorship poll is all they need to do in order for better life and comprehensive security of lives and prosperity become a common place in every nooks and crannies of Anambra State.
The apparent premeditated attack was alleged to be targeted on some indigenes of Ebonyi State living in and around Ogboji came about during their regular monthly meeting, on Sunday June 30, 2025. According to insider source it was a spill over grudge borne by some members against other unsuspecting members until it spilt over that unfortunate afternoon.
An eye witness and member of meeting gave a vivid account of what transpired that led to the killing of 11 of their kinsmen and injuring 8 others.
Speaking in concert with other Ebonyi citizens during the visit
Mr. Augustine Odom, Chairman of Ebonyi Indigenous Welfare Association, Ogboji chapter told the Foundation that on the fateful day, about 30 out of the 50 member group were in a house in the community for their monthly meeting which holds in the last week of every month when the unfortunate incident occured.
Briefing them, “Ikukuoma Foundation”, (IF) -a humanitarian organization established by Ukachukwu, as a vehicle he uses for the touching those in need in the society, told the victims and their representatives that they came to commiserate and sympathize with them over the unfortunate incident.
The victims and representatives gathered at the palace of High Chief, Dr. Kay Anyachor, the Traditional Prime Minister (Onowu) of Ogboji to receive members of the Foundation.
They brought bags of rice, tins of vegetable oil and large cash they didn’t disclose it’s value for families of the victims to assist them take care of themselves and their children.
The survivors, many of them injured and still receiving treatments, their wives, children and those the deceased left behind by their bread winners to mourn them.
He said that this meeting of Ebonyi indigenes in the area he had existed for over 40 years now and that he met it when he came to the community about 20 years ago and registered as a member and at times lasts till 7pm in evening when it rises.
Odom while narrating the events as they knew absolved his members of anything untoward amidst.
According to him, the 30 of them who attended the meeting had barely said the opening prayers, called the attendance register and gone to deliberate the agenda of the meeting topped by proposed discussions on an absentee member .
The said member had borrowed what he called a “small amount” from the association but reneged on repayment due date when they noticed two Siena SUV cars – one white and the other black approaching the gate of the compound where they were gathered.
He said that initially they didn’t suspect anything but that suddenly, the occupants of the cars, about 10 in number, all hooded , alighted, opened the compound gate and raced to the meeting point.
“The first thing they did was to ask all of us to lie face down.
They then accused us that the meeting was because of them and immediately went ahead to ask about the chairman. Nobody said anything.
“One of the assailants asked me to get up from the ground and asked if I was the chairman to which I denied. He asked me to go back to my position just as one of them again commanded them to start shooting all of us since none of us knew our chairman.
“I tried to escape but one of them shot me and I fell down seriously wounded as the bullet flew through my head with blood oozing. He took me for the dead because he came close and examined me and left.
“We couldn’t see their faces. They were hooded with black clothes and spoke both Igbo and pidgin English. The Secretary was shot on the leg as he escaped but some of our members were not lucky.
“In the ensuing milieu and as the shootings end , 11 people lost their lives and 8 others sustained various degrees of injuries. They were carrying pump action and AK 47 guns”he said..
Odom disclosed they moved the injured to hospital in far away Awka, to shake off any monitoring suspect.
The remains of the unfortunate ones were also removed away to undisclosed hospital where they were preserved morgue by sympathetic villagers.
He listed names of the dead include Sunday Ogada, Ikechukwu Nwafor-, Sunday Ofemi, Uche Alaego, Ebenezer Michael Nwaigbe, Clement Nwige, Nwaukwu Daniel, Ikechukwu Akam, Sunday Nwede, Ituma and Nwogbu.
He said that the victims were all married and bread winners of their various families, adding that some of them were farmers, Keke Operators and Okada riders with children and other dependants.
It was gathered that Gloria, the wife of the slain Sunday Nwede who was present gave birth to a baby barely seven days after her husband’s gruesome murder.
The Ikukuoma Foundation frowned at what the saw as “careless and frivolous comments” of Gov Charles Soludo who was trending on the internet over a careless comment which claimed that his records show that 99.9% of kidnap and murder cases in the state had been traced to indigenes.
Odom had disclosed that as part of aims and purposes of their meeting/organization they investigated and discovered that some of their yougmen were involved in some misconduct and antisocial behavior. It was also gathered that they had been reprimanded in previous meetings to desist from their evil ways or else be reported to security agencies for tarnishing the image of Ebonyi people as just kidnappers and armed robbers.
To this, it was learnt that they allegedly said the people in the meeting would do nothing because some of them were recruited into the state’s home land security outfit, “Udo Gachi”.
“There were altercations that day”, a source said during which these alleged gentlemen of the high way, none of who was in the June end meeting threatened that they should not report them to the state government or the police because it would amount to betraying their kinsmen .
They also requested, it was learnt that the records of the minutes of the meeting where it was agreed that they would be reported to the police be expunged from the book but were turned down.
“That was why when our chairman spoke he was afraid to say those things because he felt that his life was in danger and the lives of his family members too.
“That was why we were not happy that the state government rushed to say that the incident was as a result of a fight between Ebonyi people and that Ebonyi people in Anambra were killing themselves without investigating the matter.
“If they had investigated the matter, they would have discovered that the Ebonyi people who killed Ebonyi people were the bad ones they recruited into Udo Gachi and not the law abiding residents”, he said.
However, Hon Tony Ezekwelu who led the IF foundation team told them the whole thing was an unfortunate development.
He said their Principal and APC governorship candidate in the November 8, polls Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu was deeply shocked and pained to learn about the inhumanity some people visited on their fellow humans.
He said that their principal condoled with them and described as despicable the aftermath of an evil decision that had decimated families and left in its trail widows and orphans.
He urged them to take heart while remembering also that there is never a thing that escapes God’s knowledge before it happens. He prayed for the repose of the spirits of the dead and fortitude for the families they left behind to bear their loses.
“These demonic forces, the devils in human form that kill and main, God will punish them beyond measure”, he cursed, and called on the people to be vigilant, while urging the state commissioner of Police and his team to get to the root of the matter.
“We are worried that this happened.We are not known for this kind of thing. I wonder how people can pack guns in their vehicles and drive past many police cnheck points on the road to this place without being dictated”, he said.
He thanked Ogboji people for their concerns and hospitality and being their brothers’ keepers during their trying times and extended the condolences of Prince Ukachukwu to the Government and people of Ebonyi State over the tragedy.
He added that he was pleased the Ebonyi Governor intervened early enough by seeking the cooperation of Anambra state government and security agencies in the state to ensure it didn’t escalate. .
“We want peace. It has to stop. Security of lives and property must remain sacrosanct”,he emphasized.
Also speaking, a member of the team, Dr. Arinze Awogu while stressing that their principal was moved to tears when he heard about the incident hence he first sent emissaries to the hospital to see the wounded where they were told that some of them had been discharged to go fend for their dependant families because they were bread winners.
“Our principal was pained that in a state like Anambra kidnappings and killings have become the order of the day such that people having a lawful meeting were mowed down gruesomely. He is pained that security of lives and property is zero in Anambra and wished that it didn’t happen.
“We all know that if there had been proactive security measures on ground this wouldn’t have happened even if it was perpetuated on Anambra soil by fellow Ebonyi citizens”, he said.