More than 500 women from Atta Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State yesterday protested the assassination of their son and former Local Government Chairman of the council area, Mr. Brendan Oguine.
Unknown gunmen assassinated Oguine at the weekend in his Ogada residence at Atta community in Ikeduru council area.
The women, who stormed the Government House Owerri as early as 9am, accused the police of bias in their investigation as all those arrested in connection with the murder, according to the women, had been released in haste.
In a statement addressed to the State Governor Rochas Okorocha, and signed by eight women leaders of the Atta Women Association, the women alleged that the former council chairman was brutally murdered because of some vital documents in his possession in connection with the Ezeship tussle between the families of Okereke and Ugwueto.
The women who alleged lawlessness in the community, appealed to the State Governor to intervene in the looming crisis as the people supporting Ugwueto family who they claimed are rightful heirs to the throne had been killed in mysterious circumstances.
Tracing the history of the Ezeship stool, the women claimed that the family of Iwuala Ugwueto delegated the traditional stool to one Humphery Okereke in 1978 when there was none educated in the family to take the title.
On the demise of Okereke, the Atta community returned the title to the real owners. “We decided to make one of Ugwueto’s sons, Samuel Iwuala, Ezeelect but Okereke family started making troubles and he (Samuel) was killed in a mysterious circumstance few months to his coronation.
“Atta people presented his brother Geo Anika Ugwueto to succeed him, everything preceding his coronation has been concluded waiting for staff of office from the State Government.
“Again one of the elite sons of the community was brutally murdered by hired assassins who invaded his house on January 19 around 2 o’clock early morning demanding for some of the Ezeship documents because some of it was under his possession,” they stated.