A 48-year-old pastor of Behold He Cometh Pentecostal Church, Umudike branch, in Ikwuano Local Government Area of Abia state, Nnaemeka Ukenye has been shot dead.
It was gathered that the man was killed by a six-man gang near his poultry and piggery farm/office, located at Umuobia Housing Estate Umuahia, Abia state.
Ukenye was reportedly killed when he went to his farms on Saturday to feed his birds and pigs with 12 of his workers.
Eyewitness said that when the assailants arrived; they drove away those who came with the pastor, before shooting him three times and descending on his corpse with machetes.
A family source, who witnessed the pastor’s killing from a distance, said as soon as they arrived the farm, the gunmen emerged from the bush, surrounded them before asking the deceased if he knew anybody called Ngozi, who worked in his company.
“My Oga said no and turned to us to ask if there was anybody like that. We said no. The assailant claimed that our Oga was owing the said Ngozi salary”, the source said.
One of them brought out a cutlass and hit me on the back, asking me to disappear. Others and I ran in different directions. They held our Oga down. We heard our Oga shouting, after which three gunshots were fired. Everywhere became quiet thereafter.
“When I waited for a long time without hearing anything, I sneaked to where they held our Oga and behold, his butchered body was lying at the centre of the road.
We called his brothers, who came and we rushed him to the hospital, because we noticed that he was breathing very slowly. On getting to the hospital, he was confirmed dead.
We then took his corpse to the state CID to make entry and they directed us to Ubakala police station, where we made entry before taking his corpse to the mortuary.
