Gunmen, at the weekend, set ablaze the palace of the Eze-elect of Okwuru Orsu Ihitteukwu Community, in Orsu council area of Imo State, Eze Ezekiel Nwokedi.
The monarch-elect is the chairman, Odimma Orsu Initiative, an apex sociocultural organisation, which has been spearheading the peace initiative in the ravaged council.
The distraught monarch said the hoodlums looted his properties before proceeding to set his house ablaze.
“The hoodlums looted my house, took away personal belongings worth millions of million naira and set my home ablaze. I have lost properties worth approximately N85 million.
“Odimma Orsu Initiative, of which I am the chairman, has been doing everything humanly possible to quench the insecurity in our council, which resulted in incessant killings of innocent people, burning down of people’s houses and looting of government and public assets by the hoodlums in the area for the past two years and nine months.
“I have nothing left. This is my most tragic moment. I am speechless. I only call on the government of Imo state and the security agencies in the state to intervene. Those behind the arson do not have any excuse, whatsoever, to set my home on fire. We have been living like deathtraps in our own villages, nobody goes home, everywhere deserted,” the monarch lamented.
He regretted that when they thought the situation was calming down the gunmen attacked his country home. He, therefore, called on the youths to accept the offer of amnesty by the state government, so that normalcy would return to the Orsu communities.
But when contacted, spokesman of the state police command, Henry Okoye (ASP), said he had not been briefed by the area command on the incident.
