HRH Umazi Ibo Ubani, the traditional ruler of the uihe autonomous community, Akaeze in the Ivo local government area of Ebonyi has been killed by yet-to-be-identified gunmen.
The gunmen invaded the community with heavy shootings during the invasion which created tension in the area as the people scampered for safety over the weekend, after the man was killed during the attack which occurred at about 10:pm on Friday.
The gunmen invaded the community Chinasa Okorie, the Coordinator of Akaeze Development Centre, confirmed the incident when contacted confirmed the attack.
He condemned the killing of the monarch, noting that it would be very difficult to get a traditional ruler of his nature.
Okorie said only security agencies can know the cause of the incident and those behind it.
He described the monarch who is in his 60s as bold, fearless, and intelligent whose wealth of experience would be greatly missed by the community, the local government, and the state.
“Around 10 pm last Friday, I received a call that there was a shooting in the house of our traditional ruler, that after the shooting, it was discovered that our traditional ruler had been killed and that is the traditional ruler of Umuihe Autonomous Community, Akaeze, HRH Eze Umazi Ibo Ubani”.
“This is a great loss to the community and Akaeze at large because he is a man of integrity, a man who would be difficult to replace because the man is intelligent, he is bold and he is fearless”.
“The man does not know corruption because, at all times, his integrity is always seen. I am very sad about his killing. It is a great loss to Akaeze Development Centre where I am the leader, Ivo local government, and Ebonyi State”.
“His voice is loud in Ebonyi State, he is a first-class traditional ruler. The killing is a very bad incident”.
Another stakeholder from the community, Sinbad Ogbuatu said the incident occurred late in the night on that last Friday.
He noted that the incident has caused tension and apprehension in the community, adding that markets and shops around the community couldn’t open for businesses.
“I have been calling everyone and nobody told me there was a crisis or problem in the community to warrant such incident.
Maybe when normalcy returns, we will know the cause of everything”, he stated.
DSP Joshua Ukandu the state Police Public Relations Officer, when contacted confirmed the attack and said police were after the assailants.
“Immediately we got a distress call on the incident, we swung into action and the assailants had already left the scene by the time our men moved to the scene but we are trailing the assailants”.