A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Delta State, Mr. Unoma Ashiedu, has been reportedly killed by gunmen suspected to be assassins in Okpanam, near Asaba, the state capital.
Sources learnt that the incident occurred on Thursday night around Airport View Junction, Okpanam, in Oshimili North Local Government Area of the state.
The deceased, who is the Legal Adviser of the APC in Oshimili North, was reported to have been trailed by his killers to the spot where he was killed.
It was the second time, Ashiedu, an Asaba- based lawyer was attacked. He survived the first attempt at his life but was unlucky the second time as he was shot at a close range after his car was blocked.
The incident is coming barely two weeks after some gunmen allegedly attacked Senator Ovie Omo-Agege in Effurun, Uvwie, who is the only APC senator in the state
The state Acting Publicity Secretary of the party, Leonard Obibi, confirmed the incident in a statement on Saturday.
Condemning the incident, the party called on the security agencies in the state to find Ashiedu’s killers
The statement read, “The Delta State chapter of the All Progressives Congress is aggrieved by the loss of its Legal Adviser to Oshimili North Local Government Area of the party, Unoma Ashiedu. Ashiedu was gruesomely murdered by unknown persons at Okpanam in Delta State on July 27, 2017, and the incident has been reported at the state Police Headquarters.
“We must bring to notice that we have not lost sight of another recent incident that happened at Effurun in Uvwie Local Government Area where another chieftain of our party, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, was attacked and even shot at while distributing some items to people in that community.
It also called on politicians in the state to rise beyond politics of hate and embrace politics of issues, urging the state government to tackle the worsening security situation to prevent such occurrence in future.
Meanwhile, 500 members of the APC in Ughelli South Council Area of the state including a former House of Assembly aspirant, Olorogun Samson Okomitie, have defected to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in the state.
Okomitie, who spoke on behalf of the defectors comprising men and women from Ekakpamre community, said they had decided to dump the APC following the crisis in its state and council leadership.
He noted that with the unresolved leadership tussle in the party state chapter, there was no hope it could win any elective election in 2019.
Okomitie said, “For some of us, it has become evident that there is no party like the PDP in Delta. It is also obvious that the APC has a lot to do to compete with the PDP in Delta, considering the extent the party has gone with massive developments in the state.”
The defectors were received by the PDP Chairman in Ughelli South, Mr. Djegbe Oshetigho, and other party leaders in the state.
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