A lawmaker in the Imo State House of Assembly, Hon. Heclus Okoro, has denied reports linking him with the recent murder of seven indigenes of Mmahu community in the Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of the state.
Okoro, representing Ohaji/Egbema State Constituency in the Assembly stated this while interacting with newsmen in Owerri, the state capital.
Recall that DAILYPOST had earlier reported how a cult war led to the killing of seven.
Howeve, a fresh angle has emerged in the recent brutal killing of the seven indigenes.
The new development followed the confessional statement made by one of the suspects arrested by police, Mr. Temple Nwokocha, who categorically named the lawmaker and the traditional ruler of the community, Eze Augustine Iwuogu, as the financiers of the killer-gang behind the serial killings in Mmahu.
In a swift reaction, the lawmaker described as unfortunate, a crisis between two rival cult groups, identified as ‘Dey-well’ and ‘Dey-gbam’, over a land dispute in the community, which resulted in the killing of seven indigenes, describing it as very unfortunate.
According to him, the existing land dispute between the two families which eventually sparked off the rival cult clash in the community dates back to year 2008 before his election as lawmaker.
He identified the leader of Dey-Gbam cult group as a prison escapee, popularly known as Osy, who happened to come from one of the families in dispute with another family.
He also identified the leader of Dey-Well as Tony Okanne , from another rival family, and added that since the clash started, both groups have shed blood of innocent souls in the community.
Okoro, who is the Chairman, House Committee on Oil and Gas, said that a lot of measures had been adopted since his emergence as lawmaker to tackle insecurity in the communities and his constituency.
He said that the essence was purely to ameliorate all forms of crisis and insecurity in the area.
He listed some of the communities he had attended to their security situations to include Ilile, where some hoodlums invaded the community and killed many people; Umuapu, where a constituent was kidnapped and killed after paying ransom and Ihie-Obitti.
Others were Ochia vs Ilile, an oil company land dispute, Assa and Obile town Union leadership crisis, Obosima tussle, Etekwuru palaver down to the present Mmahu cult clash and other communities which he waded into with much commitment that have been aiding security operations.
