Unknown Gunmen killed a man and his wife, daughter, and one other while worshipping at the Seven-Day Adventist Church in Azia, Anambra State.
The deceased were reportedly murdered inside a church in the area with their daughter around 7 pm on Thursday.
According to eyewitnesses, the deceased persons identified as Kenneth Emekwasianya, 70-year-old, Grace Emekwasianya, 56-year-old, his wife, Chioma Emekwasianya, their daughter, 36-year-old, and Emeka Ntukokwu, 42-year-old, a secondary school teacher, were in the church for their midweek service.
A masked gunman came into the church premises riding on a motorcycle, popularly called Okada. The masked man reportedly walked into the church and rained bullets on the affected persons and thereafter took the keys of the Mercedes C Class car belonging to Emekwasianya.
The accomplices of the masked man who were lurking around entered the Mercedes Benz and sped off with it. However, the car, which developed a gear problem, was abandoned in Okija, a neighbouring town to Azia.
Unconfirmed reports claim the killers left a note stating that Kenneth was killed because he collected the money the Niger Delta Power Holding Company paid to the community as compensation for the destruction of an economic tree and other structures while the company implemented the National Integrated Power Project, NIPP, in Azia. Part of the note read: “Keep on running but you cannot hide all the time. You took our money.”
Details of the incident were still sketchy at the time of filing the report but the Police spokesperson, Haruna Mohammed confirmed the report.
He said an investigation had commenced.
According to him: “Yes, the investigation is ongoing to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident and effort is being intensified in order to arrest perpetrators of the dastardly act and bring them to justice.”
