In the South East of Nigeria, particularly, in Imo State, Anambra State, Abia State, Enugu State and Ebonyi States, the gory and bizarre acts of a killer group known as ‘Unknown Gun Men’ (UGM), who brutally profess their resolve to actualize a Sovereign State of Biafra by force of arms have left in its wake bloodshed, pain, agony, destruction, death, gory killings and burning down of houses and property including kidnappings and bloody beheadings.
Such is the fate of one unfortunate young man Mr. Justine Chinwendu Ukaegbu of Umuoma Village, Umuocha Awa Autonomous Community in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State, South East, Nigeria, born on the 10th of May, 1995, who has been declared missing and his whereabouts unknown by the Community.
According to our witness, who pleaded anonymity for security reasons, this is the pathetic story of Mr. Justine Chinwendu Ukaegbu.
“On 15th January, 2023, at about Noon or thereabout, Mr. Justine Chinwendu Ukaegbu was in the company of two young girls, who were his peers, walking along the tarred road when suddenly Biafran Unknown Gunmen on motor bikes, double-crossed them; pointed their AK-47 rifles at them; commanded Mr. Ukaegbu to lie down flat on his face and raise his two hands up which he shakingly did.
“The Biafran Unknown Gunmen then violently kidnapped the two girls and whisked them away in a Gestapo manner. Luckily for him, Mr. Justine Chinwendu Ukaegbu was not shot by the gunmen’, he merely escaped death by the whiskers out of sheer Providence, because encounters like that with the gunmen had always been fatal by the gunmen who shoot, and killed even without any provocation, in order to command respect and instill fear in the minds of all, burning down houses, cars, shops and sometimes setting people ablaze to burn to ashes.
“The security agencies seemed to be helpless as the gunmen usually operated with impunity; no one even knows where their camp is, or where they come from.
“Also, they can strike at anytime of the day and anywhere including churches. On February 20th, 2023, the gun men struck again in the Awa Autonomous Community, shooting at anything that dared move about and in the process Mr. Justine Chinwendu Ukaegbu’s cousin, John Ukaegbu.
“It was learnt he was fatally felled by the bullets of the dare-devil gun men. Mr. Justine Chinwendu Ukaegbu’s uncle, Mr Linus Ukaegbu, who is the Community Spokesperson and he reported the repeated attacks of the gunmen to the police. When the gunmen found out that it was Mr Justine Chinwendu Ukaegbu’s uncle, Mr. Linus Ukaegbu, because they have spies from the communities who gave them Information, Mr Linus Ukaegbu that reported them to the police, they now threatened the life of every male member of the poor Ukaegbu’s family and vowed to wipe out every male in the family of Ukaegbu.
“Thus on 20th of March, 2023, Mr Linus Ukaegbu returned home from work as a small/shuttle bus ‘ Keke bus’ rider, the gunmen tracked him down to the Ukaegbu’s family house and shot him repeatedly on the chest, thus brutally murdering the poor, innocent man.
“Again, on 30th April, 2023, in order to accomplish their mission of wiping out/eliminating every male member, of Ukaegbu’s family, the gunmen struck again at the Ukaegbu’s family house. Shot severally and killed Mr James Ukaegbu, Mr Justine Chinwendu Ukaegbu’s biological father, who was at that time having dinner with his wife Mrs Cordelia Ukaegbu.
“The gunmen asked for Mr Justine Chinwendu Ukaegbu who was washing clothes at backyard in order to shoot and kill him too. But his mother shouted at him to run for his life and Mr Justine Chinwendu Ukaegbu ran away into the bush where he slept in the thick forest for several days because the unknown gunmen kept coming back to track him and kill him in the family house or village or anywhere they see him.”
Our correspondent learnt that Mr Justine Chinwendu Ukaegbu mother, Mrs Cordelia Ukaegbu in order to save and spare her only son’s life hurriedly sold their only inherited family land to use the proceeds to send his only son, Mr Justine Chinwendu Ukaegbu to overseas, and thus escape from the Biafran gunmen who have vowed to shoot and kill him anywhere they see him.
Thus, Mr Justine Chinwendu Ukaegbu mother, our correspondent learnt has kept the whereabouts of her son secret and has instead declared him missing to save his life from the dare-devil Biafran gun men.