Gunmen have abducted and killed Jude Oguejiofor, a lawyer who ran for the Ihiala Federal Constituency House of Representatives seat in the 2023 general election under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.
The gunmen allegedly broke into Oguejiofor’s home around 1 a.m. in the Orsumogu village of Ihiala Local Government Area, shooting in the air to take him away with his younger brother, a medical practitioner.
It was gathered on Monday that Oguejiofor, originally from Orsumoghu in Anambra’s Ihiala Local Government Area, now resides in Nnewi in the state’s Nnewi North Local Government Area.
A family source, who requested anonymity and verified the incident for journalists on Monday, said it occurred in the last week of January when the lawyer returned home to see his elderly father with his brother.
According to the source, while Oguejiofor’s brother was released the next day, the hoodlums hung on to the lawyer, claiming they were investigating him because he had disclosed information about their operations to the authorities.
He said, “I normally followed Jude home to visit his parents, and he had never had any issue with the gunmen in their community. In fact, whenever I accompanied him home, they would search me, but not Jude.
“When he went home with his brother, who just bought a new Lexus Jeep, he didn’t have any issues with anybody until we heard that the two of them had been abducted.
“The gunmen later released his brother and kept him on the allegation that he has been writing petitions to the Anambra State government on their activities. They, however, promised that he would be released as soon as they completed their investigations.”
He added that they later contacted the family a few days later and told them to forget about the legal practitioner and that he had been killed.
“On Sunday, we heard that his father collapsed and died immediately on hearing the news of the incident after the gunmen contacted the family and informed them that they had killed the lawyer.”
When contacted about the development, Anambra State police spokesman DSP Tochukwu Ikenga claimed he couldn’t confirm it because he was in a meeting.
Ihiala, a border town between Anambra and Imo states, is one of the regions most affected by insecurity in the south-east.
