Residents of Nwofe Agbaja in Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State have protested the death one of them, Elias Nwankwegu.
Elias, who is the brother of a former Speaker of the House of Assembly, Augustine Nwankwegu, was killed at the weekend during a political rally allegedly organised by the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Francis Nwifuru.
Emmanuel Nwofe has been arrested for the crme but he denied being involved.
The people carried placards to protest Elias’s death, and accused Nwifuru and Special Assistant to the Governor on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) Martin Okwuegbu, of complicity.
The deceased’s elder brother, Samson Nwankwegu, said he was at another event when someone called to inform him of the incident.
He said: “We learnt that the boy was called to come to the rally that he is going to be given machine. Getting there, three boys accosted him and one of the boys, Emma, pulled a gun and shot him. We were not there to rescue him and I learnt he died before he was taken to the hospital.
“We don’t know who took him to the hospital and we don’t know where the body is. They said the Speaker organised the rally for his re-election and wanted to distribute motorcycles to his supporters. My brother’s killer, Emma Nwofe, is one of the Speaker’s boys. This incident happened about 2pm beside the rally ground.”
The deceased’s widow, Ukamaka Nwankwegu, lamented the death of her husband.
She said: “My husband told me in the morning that he would get a motorcycle which had been promised for long so I told him to give me my own motorcycle which we have been sharing as I wanted to visit my mother’s village and he agreed.
“When I got to my mother’s village, people were staring at me. I asked my mother if she heard that someone was shot at the party meeting and she told me to stop asking her questions. She later told me to go home and I left. It was when I got home that they told me what happened.
“Who will help me take care of my two children now that he is dead?”
But Nwifuru denied having a hand in Elias’s death. The speaker and the deceased’s brother, a former speaker, Nwankwegu, have been having a running battle since Nwifuru defeated Nwankwegu in 2010.
Nwifuru’s spokesman, Tony Nwizi, exonerated his boss from the murder. He said the gathering was a ward meeting and not a rally to seek support for Nwifuru’s re-election.
He said: “What happened is that the party was supposed to hold a ward meeting there. The ward is not even Nwifuru’s ward, but the Current Attorney-General Cletus Ofoke, who is from the ward, begged Mr Speaker to attend the meeting.”
Nwizi said Nwifuru decided to make a brief stop at the meeting on his way to Ikwo council for a burial before the incident happened.
“So it was not a rally in support of Mr. Speaker but ward meeting. If Nwifuru wants to declare intention to re-contest, he will call a
constituency meeting. Even if he wants to declare at a ward meeting, he will have to do that at his own ward and Nwofe Agbaja is not his ward,” Nwizi added.
Special Assistant to the governor on IGR, Martin Okwuegbu, who was also accused of complicity in the murder, was evasive.
He cancelled his 2pm interview appointment on the excuse of travelling.
