AGAIN, TASK FORCE KILLS 2 IN NNEWI
Two more traders allegedly lost their lives yesterday to the dreaded Ndi Mpiawa-Azu outfit (Special Task Force on Street Trading), near the Machine Spare Parts Market, Nnewi, barely five days after the killing of three traders in Nkwo-Nnewi Market.
This incident happened barely 72 hours after the National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh called on the Inspector General of Police, to arrest the Special Adviser to Governor Peter Obi on Parks and Markets, Chief Sylvester Nwobu-Alor, following the killing of three innocent citizens last week by the Mpiawa Azu group.
An eyewitness told Daily Sun that Ndi Mpiawa Azu yesterday forcefully entered the town from Onitsha and started shooting sporadically into the market.
A trader who identified himself as Chuma said when the dust cleared, two persons were found dead.
They include a bus driver, who was a native of Umuahia, residing in Nnewi, and another man who is yet to be identified. According to Chuma, the dreaded task force disappeared shortly after the dastardly act. Traders have been running in several directions since yesterday, with some fleeing the industrial town for fear that the group would return. In a twist to the incident, some commercial motorcyclists, popularly known as Okada riders, alleged that gunmen, and not Ndi Mpiawa-Azu killed the two persons found in front of St Mary's Anglican Cathedral near the Machine parts, Nnewi.
They said it was due to last Friday's incident that people accredited the new attack to Ndi Mpiawa-Azu.
According to Kelue, an Okada-man, 'Don't mind them. Just because the last week incident was done by Ndi Mpiawa Azu, anything that happens now, Ndi Mpiawa Azu will take the blame. These people are victims of unknown gunmen who shot sporadically around 6.30am this morning.'
Bodies of the victims were said to have been deposited at the University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi.
Security operatives including the Army and the police have cordoned off the area, as they patrol the city.
All efforts to contact the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Emeka Chukwuemeka, and the Chairman of the Nkwo-Nnewi market, proved abortive, as the duo did not pick their calls.