The Hausa community in Imo State has called for calmness as seven northerners were, yesterday, killed by unknown gunmen at Umuaka in Orlu Local Government Area of the state.
Seven persons were killed in three separate shooting incidents in Orlu town and Umuaka in Njaba Local Government Area. The attacks occurred on Wednesday and Thursday in Orlu and on Saturday in Umuaka.
The recent killings, according to leaders of Hausa communities in the area, upped death tolls in similar circumstances to 12, since the violence that trailed the EndSARS protests in the area, in August 2020.
Narrating the incident to newsmen, an eyewitness, Harisu Umaru Ishiaku, said that the killers, dressed in military uniform, stormed the Afor Umuaka market around 8:30 pm and attacked the victims.
He said four of the victims who were within the age bracket of 30 t0 45 years had lived in the area for many years.
While suspecting that the people who carried out the attack are strangers, he said there has never been an issue between the deceased and the people of Umuaka Community.
According to the Imo State Coordinator of Hausa traders, Mallam Ibrahim Abdulkadir, the first incident happened on Friday when three Suya sellers were about to close for the day.
He said some gunmen in a Sienna car emerged suddenly and sprayed them with bullets.
He said in a similar style, the same set of gunmen attacked four Hausa traders at Umuaka in Njaba. Abdulkadir said Hausa traders in Orlu now live in fear, adding that some of them have relocated to Owerri, the state capital.
“Actually this thing started on the second of this month. I was called that three people had been killed by some men operating in a Siena car. They were Suya sellers.
“Just as we were about to handle the situation, I was called again that four people were killed by the same people,” he said.
Our correspondent learnt that the corpses of the victims have been taken to Owerri in preparation for burial.
Speaking to BBC Hausa Service on Sunday, a businessman living in Orlu, Alhaji Amadu Ali, said from August last year to date, IPOB members had killed 12 Hausa people aside from the loss of over N42 millions of wealth destroyed by the IPOB.
“We just woke up on Wednesday and found out that one Hausa man who sells meat was shot dead while walking on the street by members of the IPOB,” he said.
He revealed that the incident did not affect only the meat seller, but another Hausa man was also killed on the same day, adding that it was surprising because they were not fighting with anybody.
“They have been killing our people one after the other since after the EndSARS protest. We never had any grudges with anybody and we didn’t touch anybody but our people are being killed on a daily basis,” he lamented.
He added that even though the IPOB is not attacking them in their houses but they have been launching attacks on their business places thereby killing people and destroying their wealth.
He complained that the security agencies are aware of what is happening because “The police gave us their vehicle to carry all the three corpse for burial and the commissioner of police has to intervene for them to give us the corpses.”
‘Uzodinma disturbed’
The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of Imo State on Gender, Vulnerable Groups, Northern Affairs (Men), Hon Sulaiman Ibrahim Sulaiman, said the state government, as well as all the units of security agencies, have waded into the matter.
While calling for peace to reign, Sulaiman said Governor Hope Uzodimma is disturbed by the incidents.
“We have just finished a meeting with government officials and the head of security agencies in the state.
“They’ve waded into the matter to ensure that peace reigns. We cannot continue like this. We must nip this in the bud for the peace and security of our country.”
While claiming that the killing is politically motivated, he assured the Northern community of the commitment of the government of Imo to putting a stop to the attacks.
Efforts to speak with the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, SP Orlando Ikeokwu, were not fruitful as his phones were out of reach.