Scores dead in a Bloody Clash Between Imo Indigenes & Hausa Residents (Photos)

Seven people were feared dead after a violent clash erupted yesterday in Akokwa community in Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo State between some Hausa residents and some members of the host community which has led to the loss of property, arson and widespread panic.

A source in the community told a correspondent that a Hausa man had gone haywire, killing two indigenes and equally taking his own life thereafter. The source further disclosed that the incident resulted in a reprisal attack leading to the deaths of four others.

The State’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Andrew Enwerem, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said that his office received a report that three persons were killed in the attack, while several others were injured and receiving treatments at various hospitals.

Enwerem disclosed that upon receiving the information, the Commissioner of Police, Taiwo Lakanu, personally mobilised officers and led an operation to the community, where normalcy was restored.



Confirming the incident on Friday, the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Taiwo Lakanu, said preliminary investigations revealed that the clash was triggered by an alleged murder of a woman by a Hausa man.

He told Channels Television that the middle aged Hausa man, who works as a security guard in the area, had a misunderstanding with a young woman which became intense that the man murdered the woman with a shovel.

Mr Lakanu also said that the Hausa allegedly went ahead to kill the woman’s friend who was trying to settle the issue. “On seeing the level of crime committed, the Hausa man went ahead and committed suicide,” he said.

However, the Commissioner of Police said the command had deployed adequate policemen in the area to prevent any further breakdown of law and order.