Okorocha mourns slain Imo official, charges police to apprehend culprits

IMO State Governor, Rochas Okorocha has expressed sadness over the gruesome murder of a commissioner in the Imo State House of Assembly Service Commission and the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain in the state, Tobias Onyekele, about 5:00p.m. on Sunday by some gunmen.

   In a statement on signed Tuesday by the governor’s Senior Special Assistant, Media (SSA, Media), Mr. Sam Onwueomeodo in Owerri and made available to The Guardian, Okorocha urged the police authorities to make all that is required functional in order to track down the assassins, appealing to the family members of the deceased to be calm and wait for the outcome of the investigations.

   According to him, the shock of the ugly issue made him to drive himself to the scene of the accident.

 The statement read: “The governor of the State, His Excellency, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, has strongly condemned the gruesome murder of a chieftain of All Progressives Congress, APC, and a Commissioner in the State House of Assembly Service Commission, Mr. Tobias Onyekele, by gunmen on Sunday, and has called on the police to leave no stone unturned in their investigation to unveil the elements behind the murder, and to ensure that they are brought to book.”

   “The governor said when the news of the murder got to him, he could not understand why anybody could think of killing such a man and that was why he drove himself to the scene of the incident to know exactly what happened.”

  “His Excellency said he would give the police all the needed support and cooperation to ensure that those behind this wicked act do not go unpunished. He regretted that some ugly stories the state has never heard for quite some time now have begun to surface again in the State because some politicians are yet to believe in free and fair election, and also that only God gives power.

  “The governor urged the family of the murdered APC chieftain to remain calm and wait for the outcome of the police investigation. He expressed optimism in the ability of the Police to ensure that the culprits must be apprehended to defend themselves over the senseless murder of an innocent Imolite.”

 Some hoodlums had about 5: 00p.m., in front of an eatery in Ugwuorji, outskirts of Owerri metropolis, alighted from a Toyota Avalon car, pulled the deceased from his official Hyundai Accent and shot him dead. 

 Onyekele was a council chairman of Ihitteuboma in Imo State.