HURIWA, in a statement issued, yesterday, in Abuja, by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, condemned the gruesome murder of Master Warrant Officer, Audu Linus (retired) and Private Gloria Matthew.
The group tasked security agents to give the assailants a hot chase and bring them to book, noting that such cannibalism should not go unpunished.
Gunmen had killed the two lovers on April 30, 2022, when they were on transit to Imo State for their traditional marriage. Matthew was first raped before she was shot dead along with her lover, Linus, and were both beheaded, while the criminals had made a video of the incident and circulated online.
The Nigerian Army, the Presidency, and many Nigerians had condemned the brutality and described it as terrorism taken too far.
The Army had also accused the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed affiliate, Eastern Security Network (ESN), of the heinous crime. However, IPOB had denied the allegation, saying it knew nothing about it.
Reacting, HURIWA said: “It is disappointing that the Army and the Presidency are threatening fire and brimstone against imaginary enemies they identified as IPOB, even without verifiable, forensic evidence, pinning IPOB to the cruelty and gruesome beheading of the Igbo female soldier and her lover.
“HURIWA condemns any primitive act of murder like the killing of these two soldiers and other security personnel.
“However, the government should blame itself for its inability and unwillingness to expose, with concrete evidence, the real perpetrators of the many violent killings in the South East, which are attributed to ‘unknown gunmen.’
“Government should tell us how it reached the conclusion of the group responsible for the spate of attacks in Igbo land with speculative and unsubstantiated tales.
“HURIWA warned government and soldiers not to hide under the anger of the brutal murder of the two soldiers to kill innocent Igbo youths.”
