Again LP Chieftain Escapes Death As Unknown Gunmen Raid Home
– Why they’re after me
A band of heavily armed gunmen in military camouflage weekend invaded the home of frontline opposition leader and Chieftain of the Labour Party (LP), Njoku Gregory Ogueri in Ejemekwuru, Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State.
Ogueri and his immediate family members were however not at home when the assailants struck
Ogueri who has been fierce in his criticism of military operations in the Souh East, following the sustained clampdown on pro-Biafra agitators, also escaped death when armed men dressed in military uniforms ambushed him in January. 29, 2023.
It will be recalled that hundreds of youths in the South East have been killed by soldiers during Special Operations conceived to stiffle Biafra agitation in the region.
An eye witness who who preferred not to be named told our reporter that the gunmen came in two Hilux vans and opened fire the moment they got to Ogueri’s gate.
According to the source, “from the way they riddled the house with bullets, it was obvious that they came to wipe out the entire family. The shooting lasted for over one hour without any challenge, it was when they were certain that nothing was moving in the house that they drove off”.
Ogueri who was still recuperating from the deep cut that almost severed one of his legs, which he sustained in the last attack, when contacted, said there have been sustained threat to his life and that of his immediate family members.
Narrating his ordeal from his hideout, Ogueri said there have been several attempts on his life since he has been questioning the extra-judicial killings in the South East in the name of military operations.
Ogueri who is also a prominent opposition political leader, said those after him, want to silence him because of his critical stand on the killings in the South East, adding that, “I don’t know where to run to, my life is in danger.
According to him the attempt against his life started in in January, “on the 29th of January 2023, at about 5 30 pm , I was driving from my village back to Owerri, just after one kilometre I started hearing gunshots and heavily armed men came out of the bush shooting sporadically I quickly tried to reverse the car but noticed that they were other gunmen coming towards me from the back also shooting.
” I quickly jumped out of the vehicle and started running until i felt a fierce pain on my leg amd i fell inside a ditch and they left, thinking I was dead. My leg was fractured that I could not move any longer .
I’ve had two surgeries on the leg but it failed, I’m still waiting for another surgery as the leg is not yet corrected. Than on the 27th of May 2023 I got a call from someone I could not Identify, the caller told me they that I must comply with their directives or they will come after me and my family”.
He continued that, “my wife and children are even the most traumatised, they hardly sleep at night as we have to move from one place to another to hide from the assailants”.
When contacted the Imo State Police Command, said there it was yet to get official briefing on the recent invasion of Ogueri’s home but assured that the Command is doing everything possible to protect the lives and properties of all law abiding citizens”.
