Anambra State Command of the Nigeria Police Force has attributed the cause of mass killing or massacre of a particular ethnic group of Ebonyi indigenes at Ogboji community in Orumba South local government area of the state on Monday at the late hour of the every Monday sit-at-home most people in the Southeast states used as meeting-days to an internal crisis rocking members of the association of the Ebonyi Development Town Union in Anambra state, with the Commissioner of Police, Ikioye Orutugu stating in a statement issued after he personally visited the scene of crime on Wednesday that the group attacked, were members of the factional union of Ebonyi people living in Ogboji, with the survivors’ testimonies suggesting that the massacre was initially an assassination plot targeted at the factional leader of the group, but, after the suspected assassins identified and shot dead the leader of the Ebonyi Union factional group, the gang leader of the suspected assassins ordered his men to shoot at everyone already lying face down probably because, almost all of them refused to point or show the suspected assassins the leader of the factional Ebonyi group, while some of the survivors said they thought the suspected assassins who came with two white Sienna minivans were security operatives who came only to scatter the meeting.
According to the state Police Command Spokesperson, SP Tochukwu Ikenga in an interview on Thursday, “Ndi Anambra did not murder Ebonyi indigenes in the State. The culprits are criminals hiding under the umbrella of the good people of Ebonyi Town Union in Ogboji, Orumba South local Government Area that committed the cowardly act. We already have one suspect in custody and shall definitely hunt others down”.
One of the survivors who spoke in his native language at the Hospital bed narrated how he was shot twice to force him to reveal the identity of the leader of the group, which, according to the survivor, the suspected assassins mentioned the full name of their target and shot him first time and threatened to kill him if he refused to show them the person, and after killing their target, Augustine Odogwu, the suspected assassins shot him again the second time. Details of the survivor statements as transcribed and translated by Punch Newspaper are presented below:
“A survivor of the massacre of Ebonyi indigenes in Ogboji, Anambra State, has shared a harrowing account of how gunmen turned a peaceful community meeting into a bloodbath, killing at least eleven people and injuring many others.
Onuoha Godwin, a member of the Ebonyi State Welfare Association in Ogboji, narrowly escaped with his life after sustaining gunshot wounds to his hand and stomach.
Speaking from his hospital bed, Godwin described the terrifying moment armed men invaded their monthly meeting and opened fire indiscriminately.
A video of his testimony, delivered in his native dialect, has since gone viral on social media.
Godwin, who hails from Inyimagu, Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, recounted that the attackers struck as the group was about to conclude its general meeting.
“We used to have our meeting two times a month. That day was our general meeting of Ebonyi State Welfare Association in Ogboji,” he said, his voice faint but steady.
“Towards evening, when we were about closing the meeting, some people carrying guns came in. We thought they were policemen who came for mass arrests. We didn’t know they were on a mission to kill us,” he said.
Godwin said the gunmen immediately asked for Augustine Odogwu, Chairman of the Ogboji branch of the association, before ordering everyone to lie down.
“The first thing they asked was, ‘Who is Augustine Odogwu?’ Then they ordered everybody to lie down,” Godwin recalled.
“They dragged me up and asked me what meeting we were doing. I told them it was the general meeting of Ebonyi indigenes. They said we were kicking against them, and then they shot me,” he said
He added that after repeated threats and gunshots into the air, they forced him to identify Augustine, whom they then executed on the spot before shooting him again.
“They came to me again and asked me to show them Augustine or they would kill me. I pointed at him. They brought him out and shot him right there. Then they shot me again,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Police Force in a press statement issued and made available on Wednesday by the Anambra State Police Command spokesperson, Tochukwu Ikenga stated that “the incident is not a targeted attack on any indigene of any State but a cowardly action of the common enemies of the State.
The Commissioner of Police CP Ikioye Orutugu, fwc, MNIPS, PhD today 2nd July 2025, led a Joint Security Team comprising the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and other sister agencies to the scene where 10 people were murdered in Ogboji, Orumba South Local Government Area. He also confirmed the arrest of a male suspect, Sunday Mbanu who is currently assisting the Police in their investigation.
The CP, however, reiterates that the incident is not a targeted attack on any indigene of any State, but a cowardly action of the common enemies of the State.
During the interaction with some stakeholders of the Community, including the Traditional Prime Minister, President General of the Ogboji Community and the son of the landlord where the meeting was held/the crime scene, some revelations were made as follows:
There is a leadership squabble in the Association of Ebonyi State indigenes in the area.
The meeting that recorded the incident is the factional leadership of Ebonyi indigenes living in Ogboji, Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra State.
It was alleged that the Association had earlier complained and written a petition to the President General of Ogboji without recourse to the security agencies.
Meanwhile, as the PG was trying to use an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) strategy to resolve the issue, it escalated to a record of the unfortunate incident.
The son of the landlord confirmed that one of the victims is a tenant in their compound and gave some details that the joint investigative team are working on.
Given the above, the Joint Security Team while condoling with the people of Ebonyi State, especially the family and friends of the deceased, wish the injured a quick recovery. The visit also witnessed a courtesy call on the Traditional Ruler of Ekwulobia.
The Anambra State Police Command remains committed to making sure that the perpetrators of this heinous crime are brought to book”.
We had reported that Barrister Ifeanyi Ejiofor, the former lawyer to the detained Biafra Republic agitation leader, Nnamdi Kanu has called on Anambra State Government under the leadership of Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo and security agencies in the state to conduct a thorough investigation into the killing of 13 Ebonyi indigenes by yet to be identified gunmen while the victims were having an end of month meeting at a location in Ogboji community, Orumba South local government area of Anambra State on Monday evening.