The Umualumaku community in Uzoagba, Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State, has cried out for justice following a violent attack that left a local vigilante, identified simply as Obinna, currently battling for his life after being shot in the leg by suspected hoodlums in the area.
The incident happened at Umualumaku village in Ikeduru local government area of Imo state.
Obinna, who has been hospitalised since the incident on June 1, 2025, told news correspondents when contacted that he was on a night patrol with a colleague when suspected hoodlums opened fire on them at one of the community’s security gates.
Obinna, who recounted his ordeal in both English and pidgin, said: “It happened in June. I’m one of the security men; we have local security from my village. So, my senior security men were on routine patrol on that fateful day.
“We have a security gate, and around 10 and 11 pm, we usually close it for security reasons and b4 being, we reopen it.
“We had erected the first and second gates, but this particular man, Kingsley Chimezie Anosike, removed them. This is the third one we erected. The whole village and our chairman said we should go and monitor it.
“So, we were about seven in number on that day,y bue my brother and I patrolled towards where the new gate was erected around 1 am, and I saw people trying to remove the gate, I mean, Kingsley’s security.
“Immediately I flashed my touch light on them and quarried who was there, they opened gunshot and shot me in the leg. That was how it happened.”
Obinna, who has been transported to Abuja for further medical attention and security inquiries to aid the investigation, lamented that the severity of his gunshot injury has rendered him incapacitated and unable to perform his fatherly role to his three young children, as he has been confined to a hospital bed.
He explained that the matter has, however, been charged to court by the police as the investigation continues.
“I have been in the hospital for the past month. My children’s education is now uncertain. I can’t walk without crutches. Doctors fixed metal in my leg. The community has been footing my bills. We need justice,” he said.
Obinna revealed that although, the said Mr Kingsley once apologised for the destruction of an earlier erected gate in 2023 and promised to reconstruct it, the promise was never fulfilled until the community erected another one.
In a formal petition dated July 5, 2025, and addressed to the Director of State Services, the National Security Adviser, and the Inspector General of Police, the Umualumaku community alleged that Anosike and his associates had orchestrated several violent attacks against them.
The petition stated: “In the early hours of May 6, 2025, the people of Umueziogwu community, led and funded by Kingsley Anosike alongside Martin Opara, Goddy Ugocha, Chiky Leo Mbara, Odi Leo Mbara, and others, stormed our community boundary armed with sophisticated guns, machetes and clubs to vandalise our gate.
“They engaged in shooting, took 15 persons hostage, and fatally wounded one vigilante, who is currently in intensive care.”
Obinna’s senior colleague on patrol on the night of the incident, Mr Akuta Innocent, said he received a phone call from his superior to call his security men to proceed to where the gate was being erected to avoid further damage to it.
He said that on approaching the place where the gate was erected, he saw a Siena through the illumination of the street light. He explained that the vehicle, conveying unknown persons, drove past the area more than five times on the fateful night.
“I received a call on that night from our vice chairman to call my men to go to where the contractor is hanging our gate at the boundary between my village, Umualuma and Umuezeogwu to avoid damaging the gate again. While my men were walking, a Siena car, ash colour, drove and passed with the manager of Mr Kingsley ‘Ebube Mba’ and four other occupants, I do not know.
“After a while, the Siena came out again with the same occupants heading to my village. This same Siena passed more than five times on that Sunday.”
Akuta explained that after the incident, he returned to the scene with a view to gathering possible items as evidence.
He said upon arrival at the scene at the early hours of the day, around 6 am, he recovered “three empty cartridges of AK47, and two empty cartridges of assault rifle, and two shovels, hammers, face-cap, and a pair of slippers” were recovered and handed over to the police.
Kingsley Onunwa, the Legal Adviser for Umualumaku people, who also confirmed that the matter has been charged to court, expressed confidence that justice will be duly and adequately served at the end of the case. He described the incident as unfortunate, unwarranted and uncivilised, calling for justice and adequate compensation for Obinna, whose life, he said, has been rendered meaningless by the perpetrators and sponsors of the dastardly act.
