BY AGNES NWORIE, ABAKALIKI
A group of yet to be identified aggrieved people of Azuiyiokwu, in Abakaliki Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, have allegedly stoned a suspected thief to death.
The victim, one Prince Nwankwoagu, 27, said to be an indigene of Amagu Unuhu Community, Abakaliki Council Area, was said to have, for long, been a thorn in the flesh of residents of the area and environs.
Some residents of the area who claimed to have been victims of Nwankwoagu’s alleged nefarious acts, told The Point that they had gone to bed on the fateful night, but that their sleep was interrupted suddenly around 2:00am by the movement of the mob in the course of chasing the deceased.
A resident of the area, Mrs Ngozi Okey, said, “On the particular night, immediately I heard the aggressive movements of the people who were chasing Mr. Nwankwoagu, I came out and began to follow them from afar.
“But before I could get to the Military Bus Stop, the men had already grabbed and pushed him beside Azuiyiokwu River where they began to throw all kinds of heavy objects on him, including stones, until he died.”
Another resident of the area, Mrs Nwakaego Otozi, told The Point that before the incident, many residents of Azuiyiokwu had, in one way or another, been robbed even in broad day light through “snatching” and other related acts allegedly caused by the deceased.
The suspect was stoned to death after he had been caught in the act, based on the people’s accumulated anger, it was learnt.
“The people’s attention was drawn by the alarm raised by a victim. Immediately, he was given a hot chase by the men; majority of them were youths. Eventually, he was caught and incapacitated with serious matchet cuts before they stoned him to death,” Otozi said.
Residents further disclosed that each time the man wanted to embark on his illegal operation, he would apply either “condemned engine oil” or palm oil to make his body slippery so that no one would be able to hold him firmly.
But on that fateful night, eyewitness said, he was disappointed by all his strategies, including his charms, following the determination of some residents who allegedly swore to deal with him decisively whenever he was caught.
Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Loveth Odah, when contacted on phone concerning the incident, condemned the peoples’s action.
