A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, in Nsukka LGA of Enugu State, Prince Ike Oloto, has been assassinated. The ADC stalwart, popularly known as “Okanga Mo”, was murdered in his home on Oloto Street in Odenigbo, Nsukka, in the early hours of Thursday, September 17.
His assailants, according to those who saw his corpse, must have butchered his body with a dagger or machete. Neighbours said they didn’t hear any gunshot.
Prince Oloto, son of Second Republic NPP chieftain Chief Frank Oloto of Ibagwa-Ani, was said to have opened the gate to his house by himself around 6am that Thursday. It’s suspected he received a phone call and therefore came down from the upper floor of his home to open the gate for a visitor or visitors, who might have been his murderers.
Sources said nobody in the neighbourhood knew he had been murdered until one of his sisters visited his home later that morning. “She called his brother several times without receiving a response and then entered the living room to wait, as she believed, for his brother to come down or return from a nearby place. After waiting for a long time without seeing him, she tried to find him upstairs,” a source narrated. “It was then that she saw the mutilated body of Prince Oloto and raised the alarm.”
The police and the DSS in Nsukka are investigating the crime, and they have visited the scene of the gruesome murder. The victim’s body has been deposited in a morgue.
News of the assassination has caused widespread sadness and fear especially in Nsukka, Enugu and Ibagwa-Ani. Many got the information from social media on Thursday night.
Some mourners alleged that the murder was politically motivated. Many politically exposed people in Enugu State, especially those in opposition parties like Prince Oloto, have been governed by fear in recent times following the return of violence in Enugu politics. Across the state, gun-wielding APC thugs have disrupted the meetings of NDC and PDP members. On such occasions, some NDC and PDP members have been shot, while property items have been destroyed by APC thugs.
The late Prince Oloto was not a candidate for any office. But he held strong views on politics, as do many opposition politicians in the state who are active on social media. Kidnappings, assassinations, robberies, and persecution of political opponents are crimes that have become prevalent in Enugu State during the current campaigns.
There has been no official statement on Oloto’s murder from the ADC in Nsukka. Individuals across party lines have, however, urged security agents to do a fine job and bring his murderers to justice.
— Reported by Kezie Nwizu in Nsukka
